Bucknell University
21-8,12-6Patriot
Colgate
6-23,4-14Patriot
Five Bison Score in Double Figures as Women's Basketball Closes Regular Season With 91-59 Victory Over Colgate
3/2/2022 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Five Bison scored in double figures, led by a career-high 16 points off the bench by Julie Kulesza, as the Bucknell women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a convincing 91-59 victory over Colgate Wednesday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The 91 points were the most scored by the Bison since they netted 91 against Brown in November of 2018.
Isabella King equaled her career high with 15 points as she connected on all five of her 3-point attempts, while Taylor O'Brien and Cecelia Collins added 14 apiece. Remi Sisselman posted 10 points off the bench.
Marly Walls had a strong all-around game in her final regular-season contest at Sojka Pavilion. One of two seniors along with O'Brien, Walls totaled four points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out a career high-tying eight assists and a recorded a career-high five steals.
Bucknell (21-8, 12-6 PL) held a 40-23 lead at halftime and extended that to 63-39 at the end of three quarters. The Bison led by as many as 34 points late in the fourth quarter.
Bucknell connected on 13-of-18 from 3-point range, including a combined 9-for-10 performance by King and Kulesza. Sisselman was 3-for-4. The 13 threes are the most Bucknell has made since sinking 13 against Navy in February of 2019.
All 10 players who appeared in the game scored for Bucknell, thanks to a late free throw by Caroline Dingler.
The Bison forced 18 Colgate (6-23, 4-14 PL) turnovers and scored 26 points off those miscues. Meanwhile, Bucknell committed a season-low five turnovers while totaling 19 assists.
The Raiders were led by 17 points from Morgan McMahon, and Taylor Golembiewski chipped in 14.
Bucknell started the game by missing five of its first six attempts, but King got the team going from the arc with her first of the night four minutes into the opening quarter. The lead changed five times over the initial 10 minutes of the game, and the Raiders had their largest lead of the game at 10-7 six minutes in before the Bison outscored them 15-6 down the stretch to go up by six heading into the second. O'Brien and King combined to go 3-for-3 from the arc in the first.
Bucknell forced six turnovers in the second and held Colgate off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes to open the quarter. The Bison made all three of their attempts from long range in the second, including two from Sisselman. King's third 3-pointer of the half gave Bucknell a 40-23 lead with 1:28 to play, and the Bison would see the 17-point advantage into the locker rooms.
Walls already had five of her assists and four of her steals by the break, and Bucknell was 6-of-9 from three over the first 20 minutes.
Half | Bucknell's rookie class alone has 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting and is 5-for-5 from long range.
— Bucknell WBB (@Bucknell_WBB) March 2, 2022
Watch: https://t.co/hoj37HVWjb pic.twitter.com/OnLXicbrBL
While Colgate was better in the third quarter, going 6-of-12 from the field including a trio makes from three, it was unable to keep up with the Bison, who shot 62.5 percent and went 3-for-4 from the arc. Two of the three third-quarter triples came from Kulesza.
The Raiders scored first in the third, but Bucknell used an 11-0 run to grow the deficit to 51-26. Bucknell forced seven more turnovers in the third.
Bucknell shot a game-best 69.2 percent (9-of-13) and went 4-for-5 from 3-point range over the final 10 minutes. Kulesza hit two more threes while Sisselman and King added one more each as well. Bucknell racked up 28 points in the fourth quarter, which were its second-highest in a single quarter this season.
King is now 12-for-17 (70.6%) from the arc since entering the starting lineup and 10-for-11 in her last two games at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 22-for-33 (66.7%) from deep in its last two home games.
Bucknell returns to Sojka on Monday, March 7 to begin the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell, which will be playing as the No. 4 seed, will host No. 5 Lehigh. The Bison went 2-0 against the Mountain Hawks during the regular season and have won 11 of the last 12 meetings, but Lehigh knocked Bucknell out of the tournament last season in the semifinal round.
All students will receive free admission on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
