Feb. 9, 2008

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LEWISBURG, Pa. - In her second career start Joyce Novacek recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Lauren Schober led five Bison in double figures with 17 points as the Bucknell women's basketball team held off a pesky Navy squad for a 65-50 victory. The Bison have now won two straight games and are 10-12 overall and 5-3 in Patriot League play, just one game behind first-place Army and Holy Cross. The Mids fell to 5-18 overall and 1-7 in conference play.

Novacek, who has 25 rebounds over the last two games, hauled in eight boards in the first half. She had the first five rebounds overall for Bucknell, who outrebounded Navy 41-30. It was the fifth opponent this season the Bison have won the battle of the boards against and they are 4-1 in those games. Seven of Novacek's caroms came on the offensive end. She also added a career-high 11 points, with eight of those coming in the second half when she made 4 of 5 field goals.

Bucknell overcame an 0-for-13 start from the field to claim the victory. It followed by making 10 of its next 16 field goals as it used a 14-0 run to take a 20-10 lead with five minutes left in the first half. Both teams then got hot, totaling 29 points over the final five minutes of the stanza. The Bison held a 27-17 lead with two minutes left, but Navy's leading scorer Cassie Consedine tallied eight points in just over a minute, including a pair of 3-pointers, to help slice the Bucknell halftime advantage to 32-27.

Navy would not draw closer the rest of the game, although the Bison could not extend their lead over the team they have now defeated seven consecutive times, and 20 of the last 22 meetings.

A fast-break layup by Kristina Collymore after a steal put Bucknell up 40-30 and forced the Mids to call a timeout. Emily Cordle scored on a jumper from the top of the key and Consedine hit a pair of jumpers around the foul line to cut the Bison lead to 42-36, the closest score of the second half. Bucknell's defense, which forced 18 turnovers and had 10 steals, limited Navy to one field goal over the next six minutes as the Bison opened up a 54-40 advantage.

The final 15-point margin of victory equaled the largest of the game for Bucknell, which led the final 28 minutes of play.

The Bison placed five players in double figures for the second time this season, led by Schober's 17. Hope Foster, Kesha Champion, who went over the 900-point mark for her career, and Taylor Phillips added 10 apiece.

Schober played a solid all-around game, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists while not committing a turnover. Foster added eight rebounds, while Phillips came off the bench to hit a pair of key 3-pointers in her 27 minutes of play.

After starting 0-for-13 from the field, Bucknell finished the first half 12 of 34. It continued its strong shooting in the second half, going 15 of 28 (53.6 percent). The Bison were 27 of 49 (55.1 percent) over the final 33-plus minutes of play.

Navy, which lost for the eighth time in its last nine games, outshot Bucknell in the first half, connecting on 10 of 25 (40.0 percent) of its field goals, but it fell to 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) in the second half. Overall, the Mids made 37.0 percent of their field goals.

Consedine led Navy with 14 points and six rebounds, while Kalen Kropa added a career-high 13 points and a season-high eight assists. Only one other Midshipmen (Cordle) had more than four points.

Bucknell, which is in the midst of its second winning streak of the season, will wrap up its two-game homestand Wednesday night against American. Tip off for the game is at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison upended the Eagles 67-64 in overtime at Bender Arena last month.