Women’s Basketball Nipped by Bucknell, 82-75
Raiders fall short down the stretch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Julie Greco
PHONE: (315) 228-7860
March 1, 2003

Game Statistics

LEWISBURG Pa. – The Colgate women’s basketball team trailed by one point with under two minutes to play but were unable to pull off the second upset in as many games as they fell to Bucknell, 82-75 at Sojka Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The first half was an offensive battle with Colgate shooting 53.3 percent from the floor to the Bison’s 51.7 percent. Bucknell improved in the second, shooting 55.2 percent while the Raiders cooled a bit but still shot an impressive 41.0 percent.

For the game, the Bison held the slight 36-35 edge on the boards while both teams turned the ball over 16 times.

Sophomore Emily Braseth (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) scored Colgate’s first four points before sophomore Leandra Fuller (Harrisburg, Pa.) scored the next eight for the Raiders. Fuller had the hot hand for Colgate, making her first seven attempts and going 8-for-9 on the day.

The teams traded baskets throughout the first half. Braseth tied the score at 24 apiece with 7:40 to play before the Bison went on an 8-2 run to take the largest lead of the half, 32-24. The Raiders answered with a three-point play by sophomore Milaina Lagzdins (Burlington, Ontario) followed by a jumper by junior Malissa Burke (Traverse City, Mich.). With Bucknell up 37-31, Braseth went on a 5-0 scoring run, hitting a foul-line jumper, a lay up and a foul shot to cut the Bison lead to 37-36 at the break.

Braseth continued the second half as she ended the first, making a lay-up before hitting a fade-away jumper and converting the three-point play to give Colgate the 41-39 lead. Bucknell came back, going up 44-41 before Braseth converted another three-point play to knot the game at 44 apiece. The Bison took the 51-46 lead before freshman Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y) drained a three and Fuller hit her fifth attempt to tie the game at 51. The teams would battle to four more ties in the half with the final tie coming at the 4:31 mark as Burke hit a lay-up to knot the score at 66 apiece. Trailing by one with under two minutes to play, the Bison proved to be too accurate from the free-throw line, going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe to take the 82-75 victory.

Braseth led four Raiders in double-figures as she scored a game-high 24 points. Fuller had her best game of the season, going 8-for-9 from the field for a season-high 16 points. Lagzdins added 11 points and eight caroms while Burke tallied 11 points and tied a personal-best with eight assists. Senior Ali Hanson (Norwalk, Iowa) led the Raiders in rebounding for the second straight game, grabbing eight boards. Hanson also cracked the Patriot League record book, as her five assists on the day moved her into a tie for tenth place with Hope Pellicane (Lehigh, 1991-93) with 374 career helpers.

Bucknell (12-14, 7-7) was led by Desire Almind’s 25-point, 15-rebound double-double while Molly Creamer and Kate Franks added 22 and 18 points, respectively.

Colgate (9-17, 4-10) finished the regular season in seventh place in the conference and will face the number two seed, American on Friday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m., in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. All tournament games will be played at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md., and tickets can be purchased through the Colgate ticket office at (315) 228-7600.