Bucknell University
19-7,10-5Patriot
Lafayette
9-16,5-10Patriot
Women's Basketball Wins 68-60 in OT at Lafayette, Collects Third Straight Victory
2/19/2022 4:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – Taylor O'Brien scored 23 points, and Cecelia Collins added 16 to guide the Bucknell women's basketball team to a 68-60 overtime win at Lafayette on Saturday. Lafayette forced the extra period by outscoring the Bison 20-10 in the fourth quarter to overcome a 12-point deficit, and Bucknell outscored the Leopards 13-5 over the final five minutes to collect its first overtime win since 2017.
Bucknell (19-7, 10-5 PL) has now won three straight games. The Bison were 22-of-54 (40.7%) from the field and 22-of-27 from the charity stripe, while Lafayette (9-16, 5-10 PL) was 21-of-52 (40.4%). Bucknell also forced 17 turnovers.
Lafayette's Abby Antognoli and Makayla Andrews combined for 28 of the Leopards' 60 points. Bucknell has now won 15 in a row over the Leopards.
The Leopards' largest lead of the game came during the first quarter as they went up 9-5 early on while Bucknell struggled shooting out of the gate. Bucknell was just 2-of-11 from the field over the initial 10 minutes, but a 7-of-8 showing at the foul line was enough to carry a lead into the second.
Collins was 5-of-6 at the line in the first quarter, and she made two in the final minute to give the Bison a 12-11 edge at the first quarter break.
The Bison were far better offensively in the second, going 7-of-14 and knocking down one of their four 3-pointers in the game. A small 6-0 run put Bucknell up by double digits at 23-13 with 5:55 to play in the half, and Lafayette got no closer than seven the rest of the frame.
O'Brien went 5-for-5 for 11 points in the second. Carly Krsul and Collins were the only other Bison to score in the quarter, adding two points each. Bucknell forced four Lafayette turnovers and held the Leopards to 3-of-12. Bucknell entered the halftime break up 27-20.
The Bucknell lead hovered around six for much of the third quarter, and the Bison were unable to pull away as Lafayette shot 50 percent. Neither team saw runs of more than four points, but Bucknell got back-to-back baskets from Krsul and Collins over the last two minutes to go up by double digits once more. O'Brien sank a three at the end of the quarter that would have put Bucknell up by 13, but after review it was determined she didn't get the shot off in time.
Bucknell was 6-of-8 from the stripe in the third quarter, and Kulesza and King both connected from beyond the arc.
It took nearly three and a half minutes for either team to score in the fourth quarter, but O'Brien finally grabbed a steal and dropped in a fast break layup to put the Bison up by 12 (47-35), ending the drought. It was as large as the Bison lead would get the rest of the way as Lafayette slowly whittled away at it over the remainder of regulation.
Â
4th | Bucknell 47, Lafayette 35
— Bucknell WBB (@Bucknell_WBB) February 19, 2022
Slow start to the fourth quarter, as both teams went nearly three minutes without a bucket. O'Brien puts an end to the drought after a nice feed from Collins. 6:25 to go.
Watch: https://t.co/ClfKUoeZ1X pic.twitter.com/qEbTTvfP6X
A Lafayette 3-pointer with 2:02 to play cut the deficit to three, and Bucknell scored just once more in the fourth quarter. Trailing by two with two seconds to play, Lafayette's Andrews made one final attempt to tie the game and was fouled by Collins. Andrews made both free throws to send the game to overtime.
Lafayette was 6-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from the arc, and 5-for-5 at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Both teams made just two field goals each in the extra period, but the Bison drew seven fouls and connected on 9-of-10 free throw attempts to pull away. O'Brien scored eight of Bucknell's 13 overtime points on 2-for-2 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line.
O'Brien has scored 50 points over the last two games, and she's now 19 away from recording 1,000 in her career.
Krsul finished the afternoon with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds. Collins added three assists on the afternoon, and Kulesza finished 2-for-3 from beyond the arc for six points in the game. Marly Walls played all 45 minutes of the contest.
Bucknell is back at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to host Army. It's Bucknell's penultimate home game of the regular season.
