Lehigh University
Bucknell
Lehigh falls to Bucknell 74-59
2/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lewisburg, PA – Junior Jessica DePalo had her second consecutive big game on the offensive end, as she erupted for 28 points on 11 of 23 shooting, but it wasn’t enough as Lehigh fell to Bucknell 74-59 on Wednesday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison received a very balanced scoring attack, placing four players in double figures led by Lindsey Hollobaugh with 21 tallies. With the loss, Lehigh falls to 9-13 overall, 6-3 in Patriot League action, while the Bison pull even at 11-11, 4-5 in the league.
The Mountain Hawks came out of the gate cold, falling behind 11-4 at the 15:55 mark. Turnovers and pinpoint shooting from the Bison caused Lehigh to fall further away as the half progressed. The Mountain Hawks did cut the lead to two at 15-13 with 9:23 remaining in the half, but from that point the Bison upped their lead and eventually led by ten at the half, 36-26. Hollobaugh netted 13 points in the first stanza and dished out two assists. Desire Almind, the nation’s leading rebounder, tossed in six points and grabbed six boards in the first twenty minutes.
DePalo was the only Mountain Hawk to find the basket with any regularity, hitting for 16 opening half points on seven of ten shooting. No other member of Lehigh’s team hit for more than three points. As a team, the Mountain Hawks shot just 42 percent in the first half and committed 16 turnovers.
The second half was more of the same, as Lehigh could not seem to hold onto the ball, which translated into 22-second half turnovers, and a season high 34 for the game. The Bison increased their lead to as many as 22 points at the 8:49 mark, when the count stood at 56-34. Lehigh made one final push as a DePalo layup, two Jenny Callan free throws, and two more layups by DePalo trimmed the lead to 12 at the 3:04 mark. But, Bucknell came right back, scoring the game’s next five points and put the contest in hand. The Mountain Hawks were forced to foul down the stretch sending the Bison to the line eight times in the final two minutes.
DePalo was the only Mountain Hawk who hit for double figures and she also ripped down seven boards. Senior Jana Ransom connected on two shots from down town en route to eight points and recorded three steals. Lehigh wound up shooting 40 percent from the floor for the game, but the 34 turnovers were simply too much to overcome. The Bison hit 53 percent of their shots, and recorded 15 steals on the night.
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday afternoon as American comes to Stabler Arena for a 1:00 tip-off. To order tickets, call 610-7LU-GAME or they can be purchased on Lehigh’s website.
