Women's Basketball Ships Up to Boston for Battle with the Terriers

LEWISBURG, Pa.- The Bucknell Bison women's basketball team continues Patriot League play with a Monday showdown against the preseason PL favorite Boston University Terriers. The Terriers are 1-0 in league play and 6-6 overall. Bucknell is 0-1 in PL play after falling to Holy Cross at home and is now 4-8 on the year.

Boston University swept last year's two-game series.

Game Notes

What: Bucknell (4-8, 0-1 PL) vs. Holy Cross (6-6, 1-0 PL)
When: Monday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m.
Where: Cass Gym-Boston, Mass.
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com

Last Game's Starters:
Fr./G/F: Remi Sisselman (7.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.4 apg)
Fr./G/F: Emma Theodorsson (5.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)
So./G: Cecelia Collins (13.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.2 apg)
So./G/F: Isabella King (8.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.1 apg)
Sr./F: Emma Shaffer (9.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.7 apg)

WITH A WIN OVER BOSTON U., BUCKNELL WOULD ...
• ... improve to 5-8 on the season.
• ... improve to 3-5 on the road.
• ... move to 12-5 all-time against the Terriers
• ... improve to 2-3 against the Terriers under Woodruff.
• ... move to 62-25 overall under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 34-7 at home under Woodruff.

HEADLINES
• Bucknell is looking to regain momentum during the opening weekend of Patriot League play as it travels to the Terriers of Boston U. The Bison are 4-8 this season following the Dec. 30 loss against the Holy Cross Crusaders. The Bison finished non-conference play on a two-game losing streak.
• The Bison are looking to take Boston by storm to avoid a 0-2 start in conference.
• The Bison have relied largely on youth through their first eleven games. The majority of recent starters have been underclassmen,
• 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 BOSTON U.
• The Terriers are 6-6 earning victories over Massachusetts-Lowell, Hartford, St. Francis Brooklyn, New Hampshire, Merrimack, and Navy. They were defeated by Northeastern, Miami (FL), St. Joseph's, Boston College, Yale, and Harvard. They are on a one game winning streak after beating Navy to open Patriot League play.
• This season, Bucknell and Holy Cross share one common opponent outside of the conference foes. Both teams played and were defeated by St. Joseph's.
• Boston U. was selected to finish first place in Patriot League. The Terriers tallied 16 first place votes. They lost in the semifinals last year during the Patriot League Tournament to American.
• Boston U. has one of the most balanced attacks in basketball with four players averaging in double digits for scoring: Caitlin Weimar (13.1), Alex Giannaros (12.6), Sydney Johnson (11.7), and Maggie Pina (10.2).
• Maren Durant leads the team with 96 rebounds.
• Sam Crispe leads the team in free throw percentage (.923).
• Boston U. is led by 2nd year head coach Melissa Graves, who owns a 23-20 career record with the team.

SERIES HISTORY with THE TERRIERS
• Bucknell leads 11-5 in the all-time series with Boston U., which dates back to 2014.
• Boston U's last win over Bucknell came in 2022.
• Bucknell is 1-3 against the Crusaders during the Trevor Woodruff era.

Series History with Boston U. (Last Six Games)
1/6/19    Boston U.      L, 62-70
2/2/19   at Boston U.       W, 62-58
2/1/20    at Boston U.       L, 48-52
2/29/20   Boston U.       W, 55-53
2/22/22   Boston U.       L, 58-67
2/26/22 at Boston U.       L, 51-69

Series Record: 11-5
Record at Home: 6-1
Record at Boston U.: 5-4
Neutral Site Record: 0-0
Trevor Woodruff Record: 1-3
Current Streak: 2 losses
Longest Winning Streak: 9

Last time out
• Bucknell opened Patriot League play with a 62-45 defeat to Holy Cross. The Bison never led as the Crusaders grabbed the lead from the start and never gave it up despite some valiant attempts by Bucknell
• Bucknell couldn't get on track offensively as the Bison were held under 50 points despite Cecelia Collins' 16 points which led all scorers.
• The Bison shot 30 free throw attempts to Holy Cross' eight attempts. However, Bucknell only hit on 13 opportunities.
• Bucknell was led by Collins who posted 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting along with six free throws. Remi Sisselman added eight points with five boards. Emma Shaffer also scored five points and led the team with nine rebounds. Holy Cross had two scorers in double digits and were led by Bronagh Cassidy-Power with 15 points.

STREAKS OF NOTE
Emma Shaffer — starts (46)
Cecelia Collins — starts (46)

Up Next

Bucknell travels to Lehigh on Jan. 5 for a Pennsylvania showdown with the Mountain Hawks.

Women's Basketball Ships Up to Boston for Battle with the Terriers

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Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Caroline Dingler

Isabella King

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Remi Sisselman

Emma Theodorsson

Marly Walls