Bucknell Women's Basketball to Face American in PL Title Game in D.C. Sunday

Tickets to Sunday's Patriot League Championship game at Bender Arena in Washington D.C. are on sale NOW! Visit Bucknell's campus box office to purchase.

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Two years, 11 months and 27 days after Bucknell defeated American 66-54 in the 2019 Patriot League Championship Finals, the Bison and the Eagles meet again in the title game with a ticket to the NCAA tournament on the line.

Much has changed since that memorable afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. Coaching staffs, players and the location of the championship are all different, but Bucknell's winning tradition has remained. The Bison are 56-16 since last appearing in the finals, and they're a win away from adding a fifth piece of hardware to the trophy case.

Seniors Marly Walls and Taylor O'Brien were the newest pieces of that 2019 team. The smallest signing class since 2012, Walls and O'Brien began their collegiate careers in high fashion as Bucknell won a program-record 28 games that season. The duo will now attempt to go out the same way they came in – Patriot League Champions.

While the two seniors set the tone in 2021-22 with their veteran leadership, the freshman class has provided a spark that has helped Bucknell go 23-8 and fueled a tournament run over the last week. In between are sophomore and junior classes that dealt with unprecedented circumstances to start their collegiate careers. The seven sophomores and juniors are just now seeing their first full-fledged campaigns culminate with a real chance to bring a trophy home to Lewisburg.

Bucknell is heading to its first road Patriot League Tournament game since 2016, and it will play it in one of the league's toughest venues to win at in recent years. The Eagles are 19-1 at Bender Arena over the last two season. American has also lost just one of its last 10 games overall, which is a stretch that began with a narrow victory over the Bison at Bender back on Feb. 9.

American boasts three All-Patriot League players in 2022, including Preseason Player of the Year Jade Edwards. All three All-Leaguers were also part of that 2019 team that went head-to-head with the Bison in the title game.

When Bucknell takes the court on Sunday it will be pursuing the program's 633^rd all-time win, its 28^th Patriot League Tournament victory, and its fifth Patriot League Championship title.

• Bucknell Game Notes
• Bucknell 2021-22 Media Guide

What: #4 Bucknell (23-8, 12-6 PL) at #2 American (22-8, 13-5 PL)
When: Sunday, March 13 at Noon EST
Where: Bender Arena - Washington, D.C.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: AUEagles.com

Last Game's Starters
Sr./G: Marly Walls (7.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.5 apg)
Sr./G: Taylor O'Brien (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.2 spg)
Fr./G: Cecelia Collins (10.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.9 apg)
Fr./F: Isabella King (4.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.4 spg)
Jr./F: Emma Shaffer (4.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.3 apg)

With a win over American, Bucknell would...
• ... win the Patriot League Tournament for a fifth time in program history.
• ... win the Patriot League title game for a third time in six seasons.
• ... secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for a fifth time.
• ... improve to 24-8 overall this season, winning a fourth straight game.
• ... move to 57-15 overall under head coach Trevor Woodruff.
• ... improve to 5-1 in the Patriot League Tournament under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 25-26 in the all-time series against the Eagles.

Headlines
• Bucknell is headed back to the Patriot League Tournament Championship for a sixth time in program history and for the first time under head coach Trevor Woodruff. It's also Bucknell's third trip to the title game in six seasons.
• Bucknell advanced to the title game with a 64-44 win over eighth-seeded Navy on Thursday. Bucknell is playing as the #4 seed in the tournament following a 12-6 record in league play.
• Bucknell secured its spot in Thursday's semifinals with a 56-53 come-from-behind victory over Lehigh on Monday. The win avenged a semifinal loss to the Mountain Hawks at Sojka last season.
• Bucknell's game at American on Sunday represents the first time the Bison have had to play a Patriot League Tournament game away from Sojka Pavilion since 2016. Bucknell had played 13 straight PL Tournament games at home. This is also the first time since 2018 that Bucknell is playing as anything other than the #1 seed.
• Bucknell's two seniors, Marly Walls and Taylor O'Brien, began their careers with a Patriot League Championship victory over American in 2019 and will look to go out in the same fashion. The pair are the last remaining pieces of the 2019 championship Bison.
• O'Brien has scored 501 points this season and is a point shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Desire Almind '04 for 10th-most in a single season. O'Brien's 189 made field goals tie for 10th-most in a single season by a Bucknell player. She ranks 21st in program history with 1,059 career points.
• Junior Carly Krsul's 52 blocks rank sixth all-time by a Bucknell player in a single season.
• Rookie Isabella King, who entered the starting lineup just six games ago, has been one of the hottest shooters in the Patriot League of late. She's made 19 of her last 28 3-point field goal attempts and has made five threes in three of the last five games.
• Bucknell, while committing 17 turnovers in Thursday's semifinal game, still ranks 11th in NCAA Division I with only 12.1 per game. The Bison have committed 10 or fewer turnovers 11 times this season.
• Bucknell has had one of the most dominant defenses in the nation since head coach Trevor Woodruff's arrival in 2019. The Bison currently rank 13th in the country in scoring defense and have been in the top 17 three years in a row.
• Bucknell has been dominant against league opponents for some time and has gone 100-16 in PL play since the start of the 2015-16 season. Under head coach Trevor Woodruff, Bucknell is 36-8 against league opponents during the regular season.
• 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.
• 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 56-15 overall under his direction.

Scouting #2 Seed American
• Second-seeded American advanced to the Patriot League Champions game with a dominant 70-48 win over third-seeded Boston U. in the semifinals.
• The Eagles have won nine of their last 10 games, and that stretch began with a 56-48 win over Bucknell back on Feb. 9.
• Three American players received Patriot League postseason awards. Senior Jade Edwards, who was named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year back in November, received First Team honors. She leads the Eagles in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounding (6.7 rpg), and steals (1.8 spg). Fellow seniors Taylor Brown and Emily Fisher were both named to the Second Team. Fisher earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Defensive Team as well.
• American head coach Megan Gebbia is in her ninth season with the team and owns a 159-105 career record. She's guided the Eagles to two PL Tournament titles, three regular season titles and two WNIT appearances. She's earned Patriot League Coach of the Year honors twice.

Series History with the Eagles
• American leads the all-time series with Bucknell 26-24, dating back to 1983. Bucknell has won seven on the last eight meetings, but the Eagles won the most recent matchup 56-48 at Bender Arena on Feb. 9.
• Bucknell defeated the Eagles 62-52 at Sojka Pavilion in the first meeting this season on Jan. 16. Prior to 2021-22, Bucknell had swept the Eagles two years in a row.
• Taylor O'Brien and Marly Walls each scored 10 points for the Bison in the most recent game against American. In game one, Cecelia Collins led the Bucknell effort with 14 points and a career-high nine assists.

Series Record: 24-26
Record at Home: 14-12
Record at American: 9-14
Neutral Site Record: 1-0
Trevor Woodruff Record: 3-1
Current Streak: 1 loss
Longest Winning Streak: 7
Longest Losing Streak: 10

Bucknell in the Patriot League Tournament
• Bucknell is 27-26 all-time in the Patriot League Tournament, dating back to 1991. The Bison are 12-3 in the tournament since 2015.
• The Bison are 14-22 when playing tournament games at home. Bucknell has played its last 13 PLT games at Sojka Pavilion, last hitting the road in 2016.
• This is the seventh time Bucknell has been the #4 seed in the tournament, and it is 3-6 when playing in that position. The Bison last earned the #4 seed in 2015.
• Bucknell and American have met five times in the Patriot League Tournament, and the Bison have won all five previous matchups. Sunday will be the second time Bucknell and American have played in the championship game. The Bison won 66-54 in the title game over the Eagles at home in 2019.

Bucknell in the Patriot League Finals
• Bucknell has won the Patriot League Championship Game four times, doing so as recently as 2019, and it has reached the title game five times since 1991.
• Bucknell has won in its last four title game appearances. The Bison defeated American 66-54 in the 2019 championship game. It's the only prior meeting between the two teams in the championship game.

Bucknell vs. Opponents in PL Tournament
vs. American:    5-0 (1.000)
vs. Army:           5-1 (.833)
vs. Colgate:       2-4 (.333)
vs. Fordham:    0-2 (.000)
vs. Holy Cross: 5-6 (.455)
vs. Lafayette: 0-2 (.000)
vs. Lehigh: 2-5 (.286)
vs. Loyola         3-1 (.750)
vs. Navy: 5-5 (.500)

How They Got Here
Bucknell (#4 seed)
• Non-conference - 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's top non-conference win came against Buffalo on Dec. 20 when it led wire-to-wire and shot 47.5 percent while going 5-for-10 from beyond the arc.
• Patriot League - Bucknell finished 12-6 in Patriot League play, and it's the sixth straight season the Bison have won 12 or more league games when excluding last year's shortened season. After dropping its first two games of the league schedule, Bucknell never lost back-to-back games again. The Bison swept four league opponents and were only swept by Boston U. 10 of Bucknell's 12 wins were by double digits, and the team saw two four-game winning streaks.
• Patriot League Quarterfinal - Bucknell overcame a 10-point deficit late in the third quarter and ended Monday's game on a 26-13 run to defeat Lehigh 56-53. Freshman Isabella King made five 3-pointers, including four in the second half and one with 1:07 to play in the game that gave the Bison the lead for good. Bucknell forced 17 turnovers and blocked a season-high seven-high seven shot.
• Patriot League Semifinal - Bucknell defeated #8 Navy 64-44 at Sojka Pavilion with a solid defensive effort and a strong showing from senior captain Taylor O'Brien (21 points, 3 steals). The Bison split the season series with the Mids, but shot 50% and went 5-of-8 from the arc in the first half to open up a 36-19 lead heading into the locker rooms. Bucknell then held the Mids off the scoreboard for the first five minutes of the third quarter and led by as many as 27 in the game.

American (#2 seed)
• Non-conference - The Eagles went 7-3 in the non-league schedule, highlighted by a 69-56 win at Virginia. The win over the Cavaliers came at the end of a four-game winning streak for the Eagles after they began the season 3-3.
• Patriot League - American secured the #2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with a 13-5 league record, sweeping Lehigh, Loyola, Navy and Lafayette. The Eagles ended the regular season with four consecutive victories, including wins over Lehigh on back-to-back days at home.
• Patriot League Quarterfinal - American won 54-48 over Lafayette in its first tournament game of 2022. The Leopards held a small 26-25 lead at halftime, but American outscored Lafayette 29-22 down the stretch to advance. The game saw nine lead changes, and three Eagles scored in double figures.
• Patriot League Semifinal - American led nearly wire-to-wire in its 70-48 win over Boston U. on Thursday. American limited the Terriers to 17-of-48 (35.4%) shooting and 3-for-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Eagles went 23-of-56 (41.1%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from the arc. American senior Emily Fisher scored a career-high 25 points in the contest.

Patriot League Postseason Awards
• Bucknell had three players receive Patriot League postseason honors for a ninth consecutive season when the league announced awards on Friday. It's also the ninth straight season Bucknell has had a player named First Team All-League.
• Taylor O'Brien - First Team All-Patriot League
... Two-time First Team selection ...
• Cecelia Collins - Second Team All-Patriot League, All-Rookie Team
... First Bucknell freshman named to First, Second or Third Team since 2001 ... First All-Rookie since 2018 ...
• Marly Walls - All-Defensive Team
... Third All-Defensive Player in two years ...

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 13th in the country and first in the Patriot League with 54.1 points allowed per game. The Bison have held opponents to 60 or fewer points in 24 of their 31 games, and 11 have been held to under 50.
• Bucknell has held teams to 20 or fewer first-half points 10 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 67 quarters over the past three seasons (excludes overtime periods).

Consistent Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 100-16 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 158-45.

Up Next
With a victory over American on Sunday, Bucknell will secure an automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, which begins Wednesday, March 16. It would be Bucknell's fifth trip to the Big Dance. Selection Sunday begins at 8 p.m. on Sunday evening.

Bucknell Women's Basketball to Face American in PL Title Game in D.C. Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Isabella King

Carly Krsul

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Marly Walls

Bucknell Women's Basketball to Face American in PL Title Game in D.C. Sunday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Isabella King

Carly Krsul

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Marly Walls

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