Women's Basketball Visits Easton, Pa. for Saturday Matchup with Leopards

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's basketball visits Lafayette for its penultimate road game of the regular season. The Bison are seeking a third straight victory after taking down second-place Holy Cross on Saturday and third-place Lehigh on Wednesday.

Bucknell and Lafayette matched up less than two weeks ago, and the Bison came away with a big 68-40 victory at Sojka Pavilion for their 15^th straight win in the series. Bucknell, which currently sits fifth in Patriot League standings, could end up as high as second place with a win in Easton.

Bucknell senior Taylor O'Brien is back to form following a pair of double-digit scoring efforts, including a career-high 27 points against the Mountain Hawks last time out. She and junior Carly Krsul combined for 41 of the Bison's 56 points on Wednesday. O'Brien is now just 42 points away from reaching 1,000 in her career.

The Leopards are also coming off a big win, scoring a season-high 77 points on 53.7 percent shooting at Loyola. The Leopards sit seventh among Patriot League teams.

• Game Notes
• Digital Program
• 2021-22 Media Guide

What: Bucknell (18-7, 9-5 PL) at Lafayette (9-15, 5-9 PL)
When: Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.
Where: Kirby Sports Center - Easton, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: GoLeopards.com

Last Game's Starters
Sr./G: Marly Walls (7.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.4 apg)
Sr./G: Taylor O'Brien (16.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.0 spg)
So./G: Julie Kulesza (3.9 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.6 apg)
Fr./G: Cecelia Collins (11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.8 apg)
Jr./F: Emma Shaffer (4.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.4 apg)

With a win over Lafayette, Bucknell would...
• ... improve to 19-7 overall this season and 10-5 in Patriot League play.
• ... move to 52-14 overall under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 51-38 all-time against the Leopards.
• ... collect their 16th straight win in the series.
• ... improve to 11-4 away from Sojka Pavilion this season.
• ... improve to 34-7 in Patriot League play under Woodruff.
• ... move to 275-183 all-time in Patriot League play.

Headlines
• Bucknell visits Lafayette for its second matchup with the Leopards this season. The Bison are seeking a third straight win after defeating Holy Cross and Lehigh in its last two games. Bucknell is also looking for its third series sweep of the season.
• The Bison remain fifth in the Patriot League standings, but they're 4-3 against the four teams ahead of them and are within a game of second place. Bucknell now owns the tiebreaker against Lehigh and split its contests with American, while both of those teams have played one less game than Bucknell.
• Bucknell is fresh off a come-from-behind victory over Lehigh on Wednesday, defeating the Mountain Hawks 56-54 after trailing by 11 at halftime. Bucknell outscored the Mountain Hawks 33-20 in the second half and forced 20 Lehigh turnovers. Taylor O'Brien and Carly Krsul accounted for 41 of Bucknell's 56 points.
• O'Brien posted a career night, scoring 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds for the sixth double-double of her career. She added four steals, two blocks and an assist in the win. 19 of O'Brien's points came in the second half. She's now 42 points away from reaching 1,000 in her career.
• Krsul was 5-of-9 in the game and has been in double figures in five of the last six games. She added a pair of blocks and has 13 blocks over the last six games. She remains second in the category among Patriot League players with 1.8 per contest.
• Marly Walls contributed five assists to the Bucknell win on Wednesday. The senior has reached the five-assists mark three times over the last four games and ranks seventh in the conference with 3.4 per game.
• Wednesday was the 18th time Bucknell has held a team to under 60 points this season, and the feat was even more impressive against the Patriot League's top-scoring offense. Bucknell possesses the 11th best scoring defense in the nation, giving up just 53.7 points per game.
• Bucknell has been dominant against league opponents for some time and has gone 97-15 in PL play since the start of the 2015-16 season. Under head coach Trevor Woodruff, Bucknell is 33-7 against league opponents during the regular season. 28 of those 33 wins have been by double digits.
• Woodruff collected his 50th career win with the Orange & Blue on Saturday. He's the quickest in program history to reach the milestone, doing so in just 64 games with the Bison. The second-fastest to reach 50 career wins was former head coach Aaron Roussell, who did it in 92 games.
• Bucknell went 9-2 in non-conference play, ending that portion of the schedule on an eight-game winning streak. The Bison defeated their last six non-conference opponents by double digits.
• Bucknell has seen some of its most successful seasons in program history over recent years, including five first-place regular season finishes and two Patriot League Championship titles in the last seven seasons. Bucknell has finished atop the conference in the regular season in each of the last three, going 66-14 overall during that stretch.
• Woodruff is in his third season with the team, and he was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in each of his first two. Bucknell has gone 51-14 overall under his direction.

Scouting Lafayette/Series History
• The Lafayette Leopards are seventh in the Patriot League standings with a 9-15 overall record and a 5-9 mark in league play. The leopards are coming off a 77-61 win on the road at Loyola.
• The Leopards rank ninth in the league in scoring offense (54.1 ppg) and fourth in scoring defense (58,8 ppg). Lafayette shot a season-high 53.7 percent against Loyola in its most recent game and scored a season-high 77 points.
• Lafayette rookie guard Abby Antognoli scored a career-high 20 points against the Greyhounds last time out, and she posted a team-high 17 points in the last game against the Bison.
• Jessica Booth leads the Leaopards with 11.1 points per game, and Makayla Andrews is averaging double figures as well at 10 points per contest.
• Lafayette is led by head coach Kia Damon-Olson, who owns a 48-79 overall record in five years in Easton.
• Bucknell is 50-38 all-time agains Lafayette, dating back to 1977. The Bison have won 15 in a row over the Leopards, marking the team's best winning streak in the series. Lafayette's last win against Bucknell came in 2014. The last six games have been decided by double digits.
• Bucknell won 68-40 over Lafayette at home back on Feb. 6, holding the Leopards to just 13 points in the first half. Four Bison scored in double figures, while two others posted eight points each. The Bison went 9-of-18 from beyond the arc and forced 21 turnovers.

Series Record: 50-38
Record at Home: 30-13
Record at Lafayette: 20-22
Neutral Site Record: 0-3
Trevor Woodruff Record: 5-0
Current Streak: 15 wins
Longest Winning Streak: 15
Longest Losing Streak: 8

Last Time Out
• Taylor O'Brien scored a career-high 27 points, 19 of which came in the second half, to lead the Bucknell to a 56-54 comeback victory over Lehigh Wednesday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison trailed 34-23 at halftime and outscored the Mountain Hawks 33-20 in the second half.
• Lehigh's Mackenzie Kramer, who scored a team-high 27 points, connected on a 3-pointer just after the buzzer that would have given the Mountain Hawks the victory.
• Bucknell's comeback was keyed by a strong third quarter. The Bison forced nine Lehigh turnovers in the period and outscored the Mountain Hawks 18-5. O'Brien scored 11 points in the frame. As a team, the Bison went 8-of-15 (53.3%) in the third while Lehigh was just 2-of-12 (16.7%).
• The Bison forced 20 Lehigh turnovers in the contest and scored 15 points off those miscues.
• O'Brien totaled 11 rebounds, four steals and two assists to go along with her 27 points to collect the sixth double-double of her career. She made 11-of-23 field goals, including 8-of-12 in the second half. Carly Krsul joined O'Brien in double figures with 14 points off the bench.

New Notable Career Highs
Taylor O'Brien - 27 points vs. Lehigh

Dominant Defense
• Since head coach Trevor Woodruff's arrival in 2019-20, the Bison have had one of the best scoring defenses in the country. Bucknell allowed just 53.6 points per game during Woodruff's first season, which ranked eighth in NCAA Division I. Last season the Bison allowed 55.5 per game and finished 17th in the country.
• Bucknell currently ranks 11th in the country and first in the Patriot League with 53.7 points allowed per game. The Bison have held opponents to under 60 points in 18 of their 25 games, and 10 have been held to under 50.
• Bucknell has held teams to 20 or fewer first-half points eight times this season and 12 or fewer first-half points three times since the start of the 2019-20 season. Additionally, the Bison have held teams to single digits in 61 quarters during that stretch (excludes overtime periods).

Double-Digit Victories
• 42 of Bucknell's last 51 wins have been by double digits. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, 64 of the team's 76 wins have been by a double-digit margin.
• Bucknell's largest margin of victory was 47 vs. Coppin State in 1985.
• The Bison have 15 double-digit victories this season, including a 37-point win over Saint Francis.

Consistent Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 97-15 in Patriot League play since the start of the 2015-16 season. The run includes two Patriot League Tournament titles and five first-place finishes in the regular season. Bucknell also has the best overall record in the league during that span at 152-44.

Up Next
Bucknell hosts Army at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday, Feb. 23 in its second-to-last regular season home game. Bucknell will be looking to avenge a 69-62 loss to the Black Knights back on Jan. 2. The game is schedule to tip off at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Women's Basketball Visits Easton, Pa. for Saturday Matchup with Leopards

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Carly Krsul

Julie Kulesza

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Marly Walls

Women's Basketball Visits Easton, Pa. for Saturday Matchup with Leopards

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Carly Krsul

Julie Kulesza

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Marly Walls

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