Bucknell University
1-2,0-0Patriot
Mount St. Mary's (Md.)
0-3,0-0MAAC
Women's Basketball Wins Home-Opener 49-45 Over Mount St. Mary's
11/12/2025 7:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Bucknell women's basketball (1-2) earned its first win of the season in its home opener against Mount St. Mary's (0-3) in a narrow 49-45 game that came down to a big play by Tuana Coskun, who got a steal on Mount St. Mary's inbounding play with 16.8 seconds left in the game and a one-point score differential. The first half was a back-and-forth battle with four lead changes, but after the Bison took the lead with two minutes left in the first half, they were able to maintain it to get the win.
With Bucknell having 19 turnovers in the game, the defense served as the constant of success that helped the Bison to the victory in Sojka. The Bison defense caused 22 turnovers and made key stops throughout the game to maintain its lead throughout the entire second half of the game, despite the Mountaineers making it a one-score game throughout.
"The defense is what won us that game and Izzy spearheaded that effort," said head coach Trevor Woodruff. "That's why we do things the way we do, so that when we are maybe not playing great offensively, the defense can keep us in the game and give us a chance.
Isabella Casey had a career day, surpassing her career-highs in points with 13 and made three-pointers with three in 38 minutes of game play. Casey led the team in points shooting 4-for-13 from the field, 3-for-8 from three and a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.Â
Reese Zemitis was the other Bison that scored double-digits with 11 points. She also notched five assists which led the team alongside Tuana Coskun, two steals which led the team alongside Coskun and Elana Weisman and a team-leading two blocks. Weisman led the team in rebounds with seven on the night, which tied her career-high.Â
Kaila Richards also set new career highs with 7 points and 2 rebounds in 24 minutes of play.
Mount St. Mary's was led by Amber Bullard, who had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the game, a team-high for both categories. Nine of Bullard's shots came in the final quarter of play as the Mountaineers continued to close the gap to one-point with her shots.Â
The first half was a battle of momentum that featured four lead changes and six multi-basket runs. The Bison opened the game with a made three-pointer by Coskun. Mount St. Mary's responded with a six-point run before the media timeout was called with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. After the Mountaineers hit a layup on the next play, Houghton came off of the bench for the Bison and provided a spark putting up two layups back-to-back. Zemitis then hit a three to tie the game at 10 and Houghton got a steal which allowed Casey to get a driving layup to put Bucknell up 12-10.
Bucknell opened the second quarter the same as the first with a three-pointer, this time from Casey. After two scoreless minutes went by, the Mount hit a three to bring the game back within two. Richards was fouled and made both her free-throws for the Bison and Casey followed that up with her second three-pointer of the first half to give Bucknell a five-point lead at the media timeout. The Mountaineers came out of the break with a seven-point run, five coming from Hoddinott, to take the lead 22-20 before the Bison called a timeout with 2:15 left in the first half. Out of the timeout, Zemitis hit a three to give the Bison a jolt of energy and a one-point lead. After a stop, Richards hit a layup to extend Bucknell's lead to three and it was Mount St. Mary's turn to take a timeout with 21 seconds left in the first half. The Mountaineers missed a jumper and got the offensive board, but Richards ripped the ball out to give Bucknell possession and end the half with a three-point lead.
Mount St. Mary's Ivanovic hit the first shot of the second half to make it a one point game, but Casey responded with two made free-throws to maintain the Bison's lead. The Mount closed the gap once again, but this time Zemitis hit a three to put the Bison up by four. Right before the media timeout, Casey hit a three-pointer that not only extended the Bison's lead to six, but also passed her career-high in points and made threes. The teams traded buckets through the end of the quarter and a deep jumper from Zemitis put the Bison up 38-34 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.Â
The fourth quarter went back-and-forth with Bucknell maintaining its lead before Bullard scored five unanswered points late in the fourth quarter to bring the game within one with one minute left. Coskun hit a shot with 30 seconds left to extend the Bison's lead to three. Bullard then made another layup to make it a one point game for the second time and Bucknell missed both free-throws after being fouled with 16.8 seconds left on the clock. On Mount St. Mary's inbound, Coskun came up with a steal and made both of her free-throws to put the Bison up by three with seconds left in the game.Â
Bucknell will head back on the road to take on Youngstown State on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
