Women's Basketball Faces Snowy Showdown Against Buffalo

LEWISBURG, Pa.- The Bucknell Bison women's basketball completes nonconference play on Dec. 20 with a snowy showdown in upstate New York against the Buffalo Bulls.

The Bison and Bulls met last season in a titanic clash of top mid-major programs. Bucknell emerged victorious by the score of 80-69.

The Bison fell 68-62 to Penn during the last time out despite Cecilia Collins' buzzer beater basket that not only sent the game to overtime but made the SportsCenter Top Ten.

Game Notes

What: Bucknell (4-6, 0-0 PL) vs. Buffalo (3-4, 0-0 MAC)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 6 p.m.
Where: Alumni Arena-Amherst N.Y.
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com

Last Game's Starters:
Fr./G: Blake Matthews (2.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg)
So./G: Cecelia Collins (13.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.3 apg)
So./G/F: Isabella King (8.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)
So./G: Remi Sisselman (7.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.9 apg)
Sr./F: Emma Shaffer (10.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.7 apg)

With a Win Over Penn, Bucknell Would....
• ... improve to 5-6 on the season.
• ... improve to 3-4 on the road.
• ... move to 7-7 all-time against the Bulls
• ... improve to 2-0 against the Bulls and 2-0 against the MAC under Woodruff.
• ... move to 62-23 overall under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 27-16 on the road under Woodruff.

Headlines
• Bucknell is looking to finish the nonconference slate strong when it travels to Buffalo on Tuesday for a snowy showdown in upstate New York. The Bison are 4-6 this season following the Dec. 6 loss against the Penn Quakers.
• The Bison are looking to improve its game when traveling from familiar pastures. Three of Bucknell's four wins have come in home games. Part of the road struggles have been that the Bison have challenged themselves with a grueling non-conference schedule that has included two ACC teams.
• The Bison have relied largely on youth through their first ten games. In their last six games the Bison have started one freshman, three sophomores and one senior.
• Bucknell finished 24-10 overall and 12-6 in Patriot League play last season. The Bison reached the 2022 Patriot League Championship game playing as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, but they fell 65-54 to No. 2 seed American.
• Bucknell received an at-large bid to the 2022 WNIT and defeated Fordham in the first round before falling to Drexel in the second. Bucknell is the only Patriot League team with two all-time WNIT victories under its belt.
• Bucknell graduated two seniors in the spring, including two-time First Team All-Patriot League guard Taylor O'Brien and 2022 PL All-Defensive Team member Marly Walls. O'Brien led the Bison in scoring over the past two seasons, scored the fifth-most single-season point in program history as a senior (567) and graduated ranking 21st on Bucknell's all-time scoring list (1,125).
• Bucknell sophomore Cecelia Collins was voted to the 2022 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. She was a Second Team All-League selection last year. This is the first time since 2011 Bucknell has not returned a junior or senior All-League player.
• Bucknell was picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. It's the first time since 2015-16 Bucknell was not picked in the top three. The Bison have gone 100-16 in league play since the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Senior Emma Shaffer, junior Caroline Dingler and sophomore Cecelia Collins were named captains ahead of the 2022-23 season.
• Head coach Trevor Woodruff is in his fourth season at Bucknell. He was named PL Coach of the Year in each of his first two seasons.
• Following the retirement of assistant coach Jim Reed during the offseason, Kelly Mazzante was elevated to associate head coach, and former manager of basketball operations LaSashia Connelly was named an assistant coach. Molly Gillis joined the staff during the offseason as the program's new manager of ops.

Scouting Buffalo
• The Bulls are 3-4, earning victories over LIU, Niagara, and Stonehill. They are on a two-game winning streak after beating Niagara and LIU
• Buffalo and Bucknell share one common opponent this year (St. Bonaventure). Bucknell has already defeated the Bonnies and Buffalo plays the school on Dec. 28
• Buffalo was voted to finish 10th in the 12 team Mid-American Conference. Toledo was picked to win the conference.
• Buffalo has three players averaging in double digits for scoring: Zakiyah Winfield (14.3), Jazmine Young (13.0), and Re'Shawna (10.9)
• Buffalo is led by 1st year head coach Becky Burke, who owns a 3-4 career record with the team.

Series History with the Bulls/MAC
• Buffalo leads 7-6 in the all-time series with Bucknell, which dates back to 1991.
• Buffalo's last win over Bucknell came in 2012.
• Bucknell is 1-0 against the Bulls during the Trevor Woodruff era.
• The Bison have been undefeated against MAC opponents under Woodruff for a 1-0 record. The    Bison defeated Buffalo last season.
• Bucknell is 14-15 all-time against current members of the MAC.

Series History with Buffalo
2/11/91              at Buffalo L, 55-58
1/18/93              Buffalo                L, 69-84
12/30/93            vs. Buffalo          W, 72-63
12/7/04              Buffalo                W, 68-56
12/28/05            at Buffalo            W, 74-63
12/29/06            Buffalo                L, 51-69
1/8/08 at Buffalo L, 65-78
1/2/09               Buffalo                W, 75-57
1/3/10               at Buffalo L, 51-64
11/21/11            Buffalo L, 53-72
11/19/12            at Buffalo L, 57-63
12/1/13              Buffalo                W, 78-71
12/20/21            Buffalo                W, 80-69
Series Record: 6-7
Record at Home: 4-3
Record at Buffalo: 1-4
Neutral Site Record: 1-0
Trevor Woodruff Record: 1-0
Current Streak: 1 win
Longest Winning Streak: 3

Last time out
• Bucknell fought back from a 14-point deficit to force overtime against Ivy League power Penn. Cecelia Collins deposited a floater at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Her play made the SportsCenter Top 10. The Bison ended up losing 68-62 in overtime.
• Bucknell held the lead for 7:57 minutes.
• The Bison shot 16 free throws to Penn's nine chances. It was the third straight game where Bucknell had vastly more chances at the charity stripe than the opposition.
• The Bison were led by Collins who posted 18 points on 8-for-18 shooting with two free throws. Emma Shaffer recorded her third career double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Isabella King added 12 points with seven boards. Penn was led by Jordan Obi who notched 16 points.

Streaks of Note
Emma Shaffer — starts (44)
Cecelia Collins — starts (44)

Up Next
Bucknell will start Patriot League on Dec. 30 when the Crusaders of Holy Cross visit Sojka Pavilion.

Women's Basketball Faces Snowy Showdown Against Buffalo

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Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Caroline Dingler

Isabella King

Blake Matthews

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Remi Sisselman

Marly Walls