Women's Basketball Travels to Lehigh for Midweek Contest

LEWISBURG, Pa.- The Bucknell Bison women's basketball team returns to action this Thursday when they face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at their home nest in Bethlehem. The tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Stabler Arena. Bucknell is 4-9 overall and 0-2 in Patriot League competition. Lehigh is 5-8 and 1-1 in Patriot League play.

Bucknell and Lehigh met three times last season with the Bison winning all three games, including a matchup in the Patriot League Tournament.

Game Notes

What: Bucknell (4-9, 0-2 PL) vs. Lehigh (5-8, 1-1 PL)
When: Thursday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m.
Where: Stabler Arena-Bethlehem, Pa.
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 90.5 WVBU
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com

Last Game's Starters:
Jr./G: Caroline Dingler (0.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.4 apg)
Fr./G/F: Emma Theodorsson (5.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 apg)
So./G: Cecelia Collins (13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.1 apg)
So./G/F: Isabella King (8.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Sr./F: Emma Shaffer (9.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)

WITH A WIN OVER Lehigh, BUCKNELL WOULD ...
• ... improve to 5-9 on the season.
• ... improve to 3-6 on the road.
• ... move to 52-44 all-time against the Mountain Hawks
• ... improve to 10-1 against the Mountain Hawks under Woodruff.
• ... move to 62-26 overall under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 26-18 on the road under Woodruff.

HEADLINES
• Bucknell is looking to find momentum during the second week of Patriot League play as the Bison travels to the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh. The Bison are 4-9 and 0-2 in Patriot League this season following the Jan 2. loss against the Boston U. Terriers. The Bison finished non-conference play on a two-game losing streak and have started conference play on the same streak.
• The Bison are looking to take Bethlehem by storm to avoid a 0-3 start in the conference.
• The Bison have relied largely on youth through their first thirteen 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 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 100-18 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 LEHIGH
• The Mountain Hawks are 5-8 overall and 1-1 in Patriot League play earning victories over Stonehill, Bloomsburg, Rider, Yale, and Army. They were defeated by South Dakota State, Minnesota, Drexel, Southern Illinois, Quinnipiac, La Salle, Delaware, and Colgate. They are on a one-game losing streak after beating Army and losing to Colgate to open Patriot League play.
• This season, Bucknell and Holy Cross share zero common opponents outside of the conference foes.
• Lehigh was selected to finish second in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks tallied 2 first-place votes. They lost in the quarterfinals last year during the Patriot League Tournament to Bucknell.
• Lehigh boasts one of the best players in the Patriot League and the nation in Frannie Hottinger. Hottinger leads the team and Patriot League in scoring (20.8) and rebounds (10.3). Her scoring average ranks 16th in the NCAA.
• Maddie Albrecht leads the team in free throw percentage (.900).
• Lehigh is led by 1st-year head coach Addie Micir, who owns a 5-8 career record with the team.

SERIES HISTORY with THE Mountain Hawks
• Bucknell leads 51-44 in the all-time series with Lehigh., which dates back to 2014.
• Lehigh's last win over Bucknell came in 2021 during the Patriot League Tournament.
• Bucknell is 9-1 against the Mountain Hawks during the Trevor Woodruff era.

Series History with Lehigh (Last Six Games)
1/30/21    Lehigh W, 76-64
1/31/21   at Lehigh       W, 73-68
3/11/21    Lehigh L, 54-63
1/12/22   at Lehigh       W, 56-45
2/16/22   Lehigh W, 56-54
3/7/22 Lehigh    W, 56-53

Series Record: 51-44
Record at Home: 27-18
Record at Lehigh: 22-24
Neutral Site Record: 2-2
Trevor Woodruff's Record: 9-1
Current Streak: 3 wins
Longest Winning Streak: 9

Last Time Out
• Bucknell lost its second-straight Patriot League game with a 68-47 defeat to Boston U. The Bison led in the game for less than a minute as the Terriers held the advantage from nearly the opening tip and never gave it up despite Bucknell cutting the lead to single digits several times.
• Bucknell couldn't get on track offensively as the Bison were held under 50 points for the second-straight game despite Cecelia Collins and Emma Theodorsson scoring 10 points each.
• The Bison shot 10 free throw attempts to Boston U's' 18 attempts. The Bison hit five while Boston U. nailed 17.
• Bucknell was led by Collins who posted 10 points on 5-for-14 shooting. Emma Theodorsson tied Collins with 10 points. Emma Shaffer also scored nine points and led the team with 14 rebounds. Boston U. had two scorers in double digits and was led by Caitlin Weimar with 18 points.

Notable CAREER HIGHS SET vs. BOSTON U.
Emma Shaffer: Rebounds (14)

STREAKS OF NOTE
Emma Shaffer — starts (47)
Cecelia Collins — starts (47)

Women's Basketball Travels to Lehigh for Midweek Contest

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Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Caroline Dingler

Isabella King

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Emma Theodorsson

Marly Walls