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Bison Women's Basketball Closes Home Season with 82-75 Victory Over Colgate
March 2, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Seniors Molly Creamer and Kate Franks, and junior Desire Almind combined to score 41 of Bucknell's 45 second half points, on Sunday, March 2, propelling the Bison women's basketball team to an 82-75 victory over Colgate in the final regular-season game of the 2002-03 season. Creamer and Franks tallied 22 and 18 points, respectively, in the final home game of their careers. It was a battle from start to finish with neither team holding more than a six-point lead until the Bucknell's seven-point advantage at the final buzzer. The first half featured seven ties and four lead changes between the two squads. Bucknell got the early advantage, leading 10-6 just over two minutes into the game. The Raiders came storming back with a 9-2 run, behind six-straight points from Leandra Fuller, to take their largest lead of the contest, 15-12. A three-point play from Creamer 20 seconds later knotted the game for the fourth time, and over the course of the next six minutes, their would be three more ties and two lead changes. An Almind layup with 7:26 showing on the clock broke a 24-24 deadlock, and after a nearly three minute scoring drought from both teams, a Creamer jumper put the Bison up by four, 28-24. Junior Katie Hettler followed with a fast break layup just 30 seconds later to cap a 6-0 Bucknell run and give BU its largest lead of the half, 30-24. The Orange and Blue still led by six, 37-31, with 1:27 remaining in the half, before a late surge by Colgate cut the halftime deficit to one. The Raiders' Emily Braseth scored five unanswered for the visitors to make it a 37-36 game at the break.
The second half was much the same as the first, featuring eight ties and five lead changes. A Braseth three-point play with just 1:35 off the clock gave Colgate a short lived two-point lead, 41-39. Another three-point play by Creamer put Bucknell back on top, and the Bison pushed the advantage to as many as five after a Franks triple with 14:50 to play.
Colgate again chipped away at the BU lead, getting five points from Megan Curtin during another 9-2 run that put the Raiders ahead, 55-53, for their last lead of the game. Franks responded with a three-pointer at the other end to give the Orange and Blue a one-point lead they would not relinquish. Colgate tied the contest four more times, the last coming with 4:54 remaining, but could never regain the lead. The Bison, who only missed one free throw in the game, was a perfect eight-for-eight from the line in the final 2:01 of the game. Bucknell, which trailed 19-11 in the rebounding category at halftime, finished the game with a 36-35 edge on the glass. The Orange and Blue finished the game shooting .534 (31-58) from the field, while limiting Colgate to a .464 (32-69) clip. Almind tallied a team-high 24 points to go along with 15 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year. Creamer ended the game with 22 points and a game-high nine assists, while Franks added 18 points and four assists. Braseth led Colgate with 24 markers. BU finishes the regular season as 12-14 overall and 7-7 in Patriot League play. The Bison are the #4 seed entering the conference championship tournament next weekend, and will face #5 Navy on Friday, March 7, at 2:30 p.m. Colgate ends the regular-season at 9-17 overall and 4-10 in conference action. The Raiders are the #7 seed, squaring off against #2 American at 5:00 p.m. on March 7. |
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