|
Bucknell Women's Basketball Hosts First-Place Lehigh on Wednesday
Feb. 10, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
ABOUT THE LEHIGH GAME: Bucknell welcomes first-place Lehigh to Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday. The Bison have opened the second round of league play on a strong note, handing visiting American a 51-39 loss this past Saturday. BU sits in a tie for sixth place in the league standings at 3-5 , and the Orange and Blue are hovering around the .500 range with a 10-11 overall record. Lehigh is just 9-12 overall, but has put together a solid conference record, sharing the league lead with Colgate at 6-2. The Mountain Hawks recently snapped a two-game slide, but are winners of eight of their last 12 games. A discouraging fact for Bucknell is that Lehigh is actually a better team on the road than at home. The Mountain Hawks are 3-7 in Stabler Arena, while winning six of nine on the road. THE LEHIGH SERIES: The Bison and Lehigh are tied at 25-25 in the series which began in 1977 and is the second longest rivalry in school history (Lafayette = 52 games). Lehigh has won three-straight, sweeping the Orange and Blue in two games last season, and defeating Bucknell 69-58 earlier this year. BU's record against the Mountain Hawks at home is 14-9, but Lehigh has actually had more success in Lewisburg in the past four years than the Bison. Lehigh has won three of the last four games at Bucknell, including last season's 74-67 decision in the Sojka Pavilion debut. THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Bucknell let a lead slip away in the second half as it fell 69-58 to Lehigh to open Patriot League play at 0-2 for the second-straight year. The Bison led by as many as eight in the first half before entering the locker room trailing 27-25. The Orange and Blue then held a five-point lead with just over 11 minutes left, but let the Mountain Hawks get back in it and win going away. ALMIND'S PURSUIT ON RECORDS CONTINUES: With her 11th rebound of the game against American last Saturday, Bucknell senior Desire Almind pulled down her 290th rebound of the season, passing Kirsten Ellison (1989-90) for first place on the Bison single-season list. With 291 on the year, Almind's next mission is the Patriot League single-season record of 344. With at least seven games left in the season, Almind needs to average 7.7 rebounds per game the rest of the way to reach the mark, well below her season average of 13.9 rpg. DRUMGOLD HEATING UP: It appears that junior Lillian Drumgold is warming up at just the right time. Drumgold averaged just 4.4 points per game through the first 12 games of the season for the Bison, reaching double-figures just once. In the past nine contests, the guard has scored in double-figures on six different occasions, including two outings with a career-high 14 points. She is averaging 9.8 points during the stretch. BISON CLAMP IT DOWN ON DEFENSE AGAINST AMERICAN: In Bucknell's most recent game against American, the Bison did something they have not done in the past 11 years. The squad limited the Eagles to just 39 points, marking the first time since the 1992-93 season that a BU team has held an opponent under 40 points in a game. That year, Bucknell defeated Army by a 51-37 margin on January 20, 1993. The 39 points was also the fourth-lowest output an American women's basketball team has produced school history. SHOOTING WOES FOR EAGLES: In addition to limiting American to just 39 points, the Bison also forced the Eagles into a dismal shooting percentage of .230 (14-61). The 14 field goals were the fewest the team has allowed since the 2000-01 season when Lafayette came to Davis Gym and only canned 13 in an 83-44 drubbing. The .230 field goal percentage is the lowest allowed by the squad since December 3, 1995, when Yale suffered a 49-40 setback in Lewisburg while shooting only .206 (13-63). NOT MUCH BETTER FOR THE BISON: Despite winning the game against Yale in 1995, the Bison did not fare much better in that contest, shooting .308 on a 12-of-39 performance from the field. In similar fashion, BU shot just .326 in the win over American. On 14-of-63 accuracy from the field, the 14 field goals is the lowest by the team since making just 14 at Delaware on December 8, 2002. The last time Bucknell made less than 14 field goals in a game was in a 58-47 victory over Princeton on November 19, 1997. BU converted just 12-of-39 for a .308 clip. ALMIND UP FOR NATIONAL AWARD: Senior Desire Almind is leading the country in rebounding at 13.9 rpg, is second in the nation in double-doubles with 14, and the 6-0 co-captain in among the Patriot League leaders in six other categories. Because of her play this season, and in January to be more specific, the Patriot League office has nominated Almind for the WBCA NCAA Division I Player of the Month award. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association reintroduced the player of the month program in December after several years of hiatus. The January player of the month will be announced by the WBCA later this month. BUCKNELL AND THE RPI: The RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is the measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. In the latest RPI rankings, updated Tuesday, February 10, Bucknell is ranked 233 of 324 schools. Of the eight Patriot League schools, Bucknell is the sixth-highest ranked team. Today's opponent, Lehigh, is third in the conference at 204. As a conference, the Patriot League is 24th out of 32 conferences. ALMIND APPROACHING MILESTONES: Senior Desire Almind needs just one more assist to reach 200 helpers in her career. When she hands out her 200th assist, Almind will become the first player in Bucknell history to score over 1,400 points, grab 700 rebounds and hand out 200 assists.
In addition, the co-captain needs 12 more steals to reach 200 in her career, becoming just the second Bucknell player to accumulate over 1,400 points, 700 rebounds, and 200 steals.
|
MULTIMEDIA 
Photo Galleries 
Facilities Gallery 
Video Player 
Media Guide HistoryCampsFacilitiesProspective Student-Athletes |
