Women's Basketball Hosts Lafayette in Sunday Showdown

Lewisburg, Pa.- The Bucknell Bison women's basketball team returns home after two road games to welcome the Leopards of Lafayette to Sojka Pavilion. The Bison are 4-10 overall and 0-3 in Patriot League play. Lafayette stands at 3-10 overall and 0-3 against the Patriot League competition. The tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Bucknell and Lafayette met twice last year with the Bison winning both contests. Bucknell has won 16 straight games against Lafayette.

Game Notes

What: Bucknell (4-10, 0-3 PL) vs. Lafayette (3-10, 0-3 PL)
When: Sunday, Jan. 8 at 2 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 (0.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.6 apg)
Fr./G/F: Emma Theodorsson (5.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.4 apg)
So. F/G: Remi Sisselman (6.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.7 apg)
Sr./G: Tai Johnson (4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.0 apg)
Sr./F: Emma Shaffer (9.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.7 apg)

WITH A WIN OVER LAFAYETTE, BUCKNELL WOULD ...
• ... improve to 5-10 on the season.
• ... improve to 4-3 at home.
• ... move to 52-38 all-time against the Leopards
• ... improve to 7-0 against the Leopards under Woodruff.
• ... move to 62-27 overall under Woodruff.
• ... improve to 34-8 at home under Woodruff.

HEADLINES
• Bucknell is looking to discover momentum during the second week of Patriot League play as the Bison welcomes the Leopards of Lafayette. The Bison are 4-10 and 0-3 in Patriot League this season following the Jan 5. loss against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Bison finished non-conference play on a two-game losing streak and have started conference play on a three-game losing stretch
• The Bison are looking to protect Sojka Pavilion to avoid a 0-4 start in the conference.
• The Bison have relied largely on youth through their first thirteen games. The majority of recent starters have been a mixture of combinations and players due to injuries.
• 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 Lafayette
• The Leopards are 3-10 overall and 0-3 in Patriot League play earning victories over NJIT, UMBC, and St. Francis Brooklyn. They were defeated by Virginia Commonwealth University, East Tennessee State University, Cornell, Siena, La Salle, Marist, Columbia, American, Army, and Boston U. A scheduled home game against #5 Notre Dame was postponed. They are on a three-game losing streak to open Patriot League play.
• This season, Bucknell and Lafayette shared one common opponent, outside of the conference foes, in Cornell. Bucknell defeated the Ivy League foe in overtime.
• Lafayette was selected to finish sixth in the Patriot League. Last year, they lost in the quarterfinals during the Patriot League Tournament to American.
• Makayla Andrews leads the team in scoring (13.1)
• Kayla Drummond leads the team in rebounds (6.7)
• Maddie Albrecht leads the team in free throw percentage (.900).
• Lafayette is led by sixth-year head coach Kia Damon-Olson, who owns a 54-92 career record with the team.

SERIES HISTORY with THE LEOPARDS
• Bucknell leads 51-38 in the all-time series with Lafayette, which dates back to 1977.
• Lafayette's last win over Bucknell came in 2014 during the Patriot League Tournament.
• Bucknell is 6-0 against Lafayette during the Trevor Woodruff era.

Series History with Lafayette (Last Six Games)
1/5/20     Lafayette             W, 50-36
3/4/20     at Lafayette         W, 57-47
1/9/21     at Lafayette         W, 80-51
1/10/21   Lafayette             W, 79-45
2/6/22     Lafayette             W, 68-40
2/19/22 at Lafayette         W, 68-60 (OT)

Series Record: 51-38
Record at Home: 30-13
Record at Lafayette: 21-22
Neutral Site Record: 0-3
Trevor Woodruff Record: 6-0
Current Streak: 16 wins
Longest Winning Streak: 16

Last Time Out
• Bucknell lost its third-straight Patriot League game with a 64-51 defeat to Lafayette. The Bison stormed out to an early advantage and led the entire first quarter. Lehigh counterattacked in the second period winning the quarter by a score of 27-11. This gave the Mountain Hawks a lead that they would never lose. Bucknell outscored Lehigh 25-23 in the second half, but it was to no avail.
• Bucknell couldn't get on track offensively after the first quarter as the Bison scored 15 points in the first period and only 36 for the remainder of the game
• The Bison shot 11 free throw attempts to Lehigh's 5 attempts. The Bison hit seven (Seven Eleven!) while Lehigh converted all five chances.
• Bucknell was led by Tai Johnson who posted a career-high 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting. Johnson and Emma Theodorsson tied for the team lead in rebounds with six boards. Lehigh had three scorers in double digits and was led by Frannie Hottinger with 22 points.

Notable CAREER HIGHS SET vs. LEHIGH
Tai Johnson: Points (14) and Rebounds (6)

STREAKS OF NOTE
Emma Shaffer — starts (48)

Women's Basketball Hosts Lafayette in Sunday Showdown

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Players Mentioned

Cecelia Collins

Caroline Dingler

Tai Johnson

Taylor O'Brien

Emma Shaffer

Remi Sisselman

Emma Theodorsson

Marly Walls