Women's Basketball Notches First Win of Season, 63-47 Over Mount St. Mary's

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Ashley Sofilkanich registered her fourth straight 20-point game with 22 points and career highs in rebounds (16) and assists (5) to lead the Bucknell women's basketball team to its first win of the season as it defeated Mount St. Mary's 63-47 Wednesday evening in Sojka Pavilion. It was the home opener for the Bison, who used a decisive third quarter to turn a five-point halftime advantage into a 22-point lead midway through the second half.

Bucknell (1-4) dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Mountaineers 22-7 in the period. The Bison connected on 8 of 14 field goals, while Mount St. Mary's (0-4) shot 3-for-19 in the stanza. Bucknell went on a 13-0 run in the third quarter keyed by points from four different players to stretch its lead from 37-28 to 50-28.

The Bison entered the game with 10 blocks in their first four games and registered 12 in the contest, led by four by Anna Kunzwiler. Tuana Coskun added three to go along with five points and four rebounds. The Bison last obtained 10+ blocks back against Delaware on Dec. 20, 2015.

Reese Zemitis was the only other Bucknell player in double figures with 13 points off the bench.

Jo Raflo led Mount St. Mary's with 12 points.

"Our team has been working really hard and you expect to profit from that," said head coach Trevor Woodruff. "To receive some bounty from your labor is good. I thought we did a lot of things today that we have not done the first few games. We were much better defensively against the dribble. Ashley really committed herself to being better disciplined on defense because when she is in the game we are really good. So many good things happened and I am happy for the team. The message tomorrow remains the same; let's keep working."

Mount St. Mary's only led for 27 seconds while Bucknell controlled the contest for 38:04 minutes. The first half was closer than the final score indicated with the Orange & Blue leading 15-10 after the opening salvo and 28-23 at halftime.

Zemitis provided an early burst scoring 7 of her 13 points in the first quarter. The freshman has been a spark-plug off the bench averaging nearly nine points per game. She has already posted two double-digit scoring games.

"The whole team got involved in this game rather just relying on one player," said Zemitis. "Our guards and forwards did a good job getting to the basket and making those shots. Our whole team knows we have been in every game and playing a full four quarters will yield a good outcome."

Sofilkanich was remarkably consistent scoring five, six, six, and five points respectively in each quarter. The sophomore star started the season with four points against Penn State but has rebounded to score 20, 27, 20, and 22 in her last four games, including two double-doubles. She eclipsed the 400-point mark against Pitt and now sits at 481 for her short career. Her only issue has been foul trouble having fouled out three times but she remained mostly blemish free committing only one transgression.

"We played really solid defense," said Sofilkanich. "It has been better than what we have played the last four games. It played a pivotal role in the outcome. We have a new coach on staff (former Hampton men's basketball head coach Edward Joyner) and he has been focusing on defensive details."

Bucknell was outscored 17-13 in the final quarter but the Mountaineers never inched closer than 16 points twice; 55-39 with five minutes remaining and the final score. The former 16-point deficit immediately regrew to 19 points when Sofilkanich drained a three-pointer off an in-bounds play to hit 22 points when the Bison caught the Mount napping.

It is Bucknell's fourth win in the US Route 15 Rivalry named for the highway connecting and bisecting the two schools and the Bison have now won three of the last four contests.

Up Next

The Orange & Blue remain in Sojka this weekend for a Saturday brunch game at 11 a.m. versus the Youngstown State Penguins. It is part of a home triple-header Saturday for the Bison. Football's Senior Day clash versus Colgate follows at 1 p.m. and the men's basketball team faces Rider at 7 p.m.

Women's Basketball Notches First Win of Season, 63-47 Over Mount St. Mary's

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Team Stats

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis

Isabella King

Ashley O'Connor

Players Mentioned

Tuana Coskun

Anna Kunzwiler

Ashley Sofilkanich

Reese Zemitis