Bison Sport Second Half Comeback to Win 50-41 in Hamilton

HAMILTON, N.Y. — Bucknell women's basketball (9-14, 5-7 PL) showed intense fight as it came back from a 10-point deficit late in the third and used a 17-10 fourth quarter to put together a hard-fought comeback win over Colgate (6-17, 2-10 PL) 50-41 in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon. The road victory completes the season sweep over the Raiders and serves as the Bison's third consecutive win of the season.

Colgate dominated the first quarter of play by out-scoring Bucknell 21-11 and keeping the Bison off of the boards, allowing the Raiders to gain points off of second-chance opportunities to continuously extend their lead. Bucknell limited Colgate to just seven points in the second quarter and stepped up their defensive play overall as they closed the gap to six at halftime, out-scoring the Raiders 11-7 in the second. Bucknell's defense stood tall and limited Colgate to just three points in the third quarter, which allowed the Bison to put up 11 and take a 33-31 lead into the final ten minutes of play. Bucknell came out swinging in the fourth quarter as it out-scored Colgate 17-10 to earn the comeback win.

Reese Zemitis led the team in scoring with 11 points as the Bison sported a more spread out scoring attack. Tuana Coksun notched nine, Anna Kunziwler notched eight and Ella Kreuzer came off of the bench with eight points, including a momentum building five in a row at the beginning of the fourth to kickstart the Bucknell scoring that secured the win.

The Bison won the shooting battle as they shot 32.7 percent from the field to Colgate's 23.6 percent. Bucknell also shot better than three as they shot 31.8 percent compared to the Raiders 27.8 percent. Colgate out-shot the Bison from the free-throw line going 10-for-14 to Bucknell's 9-for-14.

Desirae Ashton led the team in rebounds with eight as the rebound battle went an even 41-41 between the two teams. Mariah Hardy, Zemitis and Kunzwiler found six rebounds apiece.

Kunzwiler led the team in assists with four, Ashton led in steals with four and Zemitis led the team in blocks with two.

Both teams recorded 15 turnovers and Colgate turned them into 11 points, while the Bison only found eight off of them, however Bucknell did find more second-chance points thanks to their aggressive second half of play as they recorded 16 to Colgate's nine.

The beginning of the first quarter went back and forth as Grace Klag opened the scoring with an easy layup, but Tuana Coskun answered with a bucket of her own. On the next possession Schiller drained a three to create separation, which Bucknell responded to with an Isabella Casey bucket. Schiller put in another basket to put Colgate up 7-4, but Anna Kunzwiler answered with a three-pointer to tie the game at 7. Colgate then went on a 8-0 run to extend its lead to eight. Casey broke the Raiders scoring streak as she worked on the inside for a second-chance layup to cut the deficit to six. Colgate then went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line after Kunzwiler fouled Meabon. After Coach Woodruff called a timeout, Desirae Ashton foundher first bucket of the day off of an offensive board. The Raiders put up four more points before the end of the first quarter to extend their lead to 10.

Coskun opened the second quarter with a layup, but Meabon answered with a jumper on the next possession. Bucknell then went on a 8-0 run with three-pointers from both Ella Kreuzer and Reese Zemitis followed up by two made free-throws from Coskun to close the gap to two with under four minutes left in the first half. Colgate then got a layup, a stop, and Taye Matthews went 1-for-2 at the line to go up 26-21. After Bucknell had a missed offensive opportunity, Desirae Ashton came up with a big block that led to a Casey free-throw to close the gap to four. Klag immediately answered with a powerful backdown to the basket, which would end up being the last bucket of the first half as Colgate took a 28-22 lead into the break.

The Bison opened the second half with a defensive stop that Reese Zemitis followed up with a three to close the gap to three. Klag found the next points of the game as she went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line after being fouled by Mariah Hardy. Over two minutes of scoreless play later, the Bison went on a 6-0 run to take a 31-29 lead thanks to buckets from Zemitis and Ahton coupled with two free-throws from Kunzwiler. Ferguson hit a shot for Colgate to tie the game at 31, but Hardy would get the last word of the quarter as she got a tip-in layup off an offensive board at the buzzer to give the Bison a 33-31 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with free-throws for Colgate, but Kreuzer came in clutch with a three-pointer followed by a tough layup to extend Bucknell's lead to six and force a Colgate timeout with 7:08 remaining. Out of the break, Matthews closed the gap to three with a quick three-pointer, but Zemitis immediately answered with a three of her own. After Bucknell came up with another big stop, Coskun drained a three as the shot clock expired to extend the lead to nine at the media timeout with 4:54 left in regulation. Out of the break, the Raiders went 1-for-2 from the line and then after two minutes went by without a bucket, Ashton hit a layup off of a threaded pass from Coskun and was fouled on the play. She made the free-throw to give Bucknell an 11-point advantage with under two left to play. The Raiders put up five more points off of two free-throws and a Ferguson three, but it wouldn't be enough as the Bison would make free-throws and take a 50-41 victory.

Bucknell will stay on the road as it travels to take on Navy for the second time this season on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.