Women's Basketball Welcomes Army for a Wednesday Night Battle

LEWISBURG, Pa.- The Bucknell Bison women's basketball team wraps up the two-game home stretch with a visit from the Army West Point Black Knights. Both Bucknell and Army are 2-4 in Patriot League play. The Bison are 6-11 overall, while the Black Knights are 4-12. It is a matchup of two teams projected to finish in the top five of Patriot League play.

Game Notes

What: Bucknell (6-11, 2-4 PL) vs. Army (4-12, 2-4 PL)
When: Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m.
Where: Lewisburg, Pa.-Sojka Pavilion
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com

Last Game's Starters:
Jr./G: Caroline Dingler (1.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.8 apg)
Fr./G/F: Emma Theodorsson (7.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 apg)
So. F/G: Isabella King (6.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 0.9 apg)
Sr./G: Tai Johnson (6.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)
Sr./F: Emma Shaffer (9.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.0 apg)

WITH A WIN OVER ARMY, BUCKNELL WOULD ...
• ... improve to 7-11 on the season
• ... improve to 5-4 at home
• ... move to 44-26 all-time against the Black Knights
• ... improve to 5-1 against the Black Knights under Woodruff
• ... move to 64-28 overall under Woodruff
• ... improve to 35-9 at home under Woodruff

HEADLINES
• Bucknell witnessed its two-game winning streak end in an overtime defeat to Colgate, 64-57. Bucknell led by 13 points in the third quarter before the Raiders staged a furious comeback. The Bison never led in overtime as Colgate completed the comeback victory. The Bison are now 6-11 and 2-4 in the Patriot League this season following the defeat.
• The Bison relied largely on youth through their first thirteen games. The majority of recent starters have been a mixture of combinations and classes due to injuries. But the starting combo of Dingler, Johnson, King, Shaffer, and Theodorsson has rewarded the team with two straight wins and a narrow overtime loss.
• Tai Johnson earned Bison of the Week on Jan. 16 for her combined 36 points against Loyola and Colgate. Johnson played all but 24 seconds in the two games.
• Emma Shaffer equaled 300 career rebounds against Boston U. on Jan. 2, 2023, and Isabella King collected her 100th career rebound against Lehigh on Jan. 5, 2023
• 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 the 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 102-19 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 Army
• The Black Knights are 4-12 overall and 2-4 in Patriot League play earning victories over Emmanuel College (Mass.), Sacred Heart University, Lafayette, and American. They were defeated by Binghamton, Texas A&M, Yale, Vermont, William & Mary, Hofstra, Maine, Eastern Kentucky, Lehigh, Loyola, Colgate, and Boston U. They have recently been defeated by Boston U.
• This season, Bucknell and Army share zero opponents outside of the mandated conference foes.
• Army was selected to finish fifth in the Patriot League. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament last season to Boston U.
• Sabria Hunter is a one-woman army for the Black Knights by averaging a double-double. She leads the ranks in scoring (13.1), rebounding (11.4), field goal percentage (.560), and steals (0.9).
• Young gun Reese Ericson leads the team in free throw percentage (.941).
• Army is led by second-year head coach Missy Traversi, who owns a 20-25 career record with the team.

SERIES HISTORY with THE BLACK KNIGHTS
• Bucknell leads 43-26 in the all-time series with Army, which dates back to 1984.
• Army's last win over Bucknell came in 2022.
• Bucknell is 4-1 against Army during the Trevor Woodruff era.

Series History with Army (Last Six Games)
3/6/19         Army           W, 84-66
1/2/20         at Army        W, 63-52
1/29/20       Army            W, 77-46
3/9/20         Army (PLT) W, 87-61
1/2/22         at Army         L, 69-62
2/23/22 Army             W, 79-51

Series Record: 43-26
Record at Home: 26-8
Record at Army: 16-18
Neutral Site Record: 2-5
Trevor Woodruff Record: 4-1
Current Streak: 1 win
Longest Winning Streak: 9

Last Time Out
• Bucknell lost the game and its two-game winning streak to Colgate. The Raiders overcame a 13-point Bucknell lead to win the game in overtime, 64-57. The Bison led at halftime 28-25 and extended its lead to 40-27 before allowing Colgate back into the game. In the fourth period, the Bison went without a field goal for eight minutes, which left the Raiders to close the deficit. In overtime, Colgate grabbed the lead and held on for the win.
• Bucknell's defense kept Colgate at a mere 34.9% from the field while Bucknell shot 37.9%. However, Colgate's bench scored 35 points to Bucknell's 11 bench points.
• Bucknell was led by Bison of the Week Tai Johnson who scored a career-high 21 points and collared eight rebounds. Emma Shaffer posted nine points and collected 14 rebounds. Emma Theodorsson dropped 12 points. Colgate was led by Morgan McMahon who scored 24 points.

Notable CAREER HIGHS SET vs. COLGATE
Tai Johnson: Points (21)

STREAKS OF NOTE
Emma Shaffer — starts (51)

Women's Basketball Welcomes Army for a Wednesday Night Battle

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Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Caroline Dingler

Tai Johnson

Isabella King

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Emma Theodorsson

Marly Walls