By William Bowman
LEWISBURG -- The bad news for the Bucknell women's basketball team is that the Bison are 0-3 for the second time in three seasons following Thursday night's 77-62 loss to Penn State at Sojka Pavilion.
The good news is that two years ago the Bison were also 0-3 and ended up in the NCAA tournament and they are playing pretty well so far despite their record.
The Nittany Lions built a 12-point lead by halftime then used a 10-point spurt early in the second half to push the lead to as many as 26 before the Bison surged in the final 10 minutes to stay within striking distance. In the end, Penn State (3-0) was too deep and too athletic for the young Bison, who have played well in the first week of the season but don't have a victory to show for it yet.
"I am excited with what I'm seeing," said Bucknell coach Kathy Fedorjaka. "I am excited with the positive things, the building blocks we are laying."
The loss ended a brutal three-game stretch to start the season for the Bison, who lost to Miami (Ohio) and Iona over the weekend and then to Penn State on Thursday. Now the Bison play four of their next five games at home and Fedorjaka said Bucknell needs to get some results.
"I said in the locker room that the Âexhibition' portion of our schedule is over and while the next four games will be a challenge, they are winnable games and we need to play well," she said.
Against the Nittany Lions, Bucknell played well at times, but in the end the Big Ten squad just had a little bit too much of everything.
Penn State put four players in double figures with freshman Nikki Greene and Zhaque Grey scoring 11 each and Alex Bentley and All-American Tyra Grant both scoring 10. Grant, PSU's leading scorer and a preseason all-Big Ten selection, did not play at all in the first half and entered the game three minutes into the second half.
"I decided not to play her," was Penn State coach Coquese Washington's answer as to why the senior did not play.
Penn State did just fine without her. After the Nittany Lions got out to a quick eight-point lead, the Bison got a three from freshman Rachel Voss and a jumper from Morgan Wrightson to make it 18-15 midway through the first half.
The Nittany Lions responded with an 11-0 spurt to go up 14 and they carried a 12-point lead into the break, aided by a pair of easy buckets in the final minute.
Bucknell hung around to start the second half, getting within eight on a Wrightson bankshot in the first three minutes of the half. Penn State answered with a 10-0 run in a little more than a minute to push its lead to 57-37 and eventually led 70-44.
Bucknell's freshmen then tried to keep it close, with first-year players scoring 12 points in a row for BU, including all of them in a 10-0 run, but the Bison never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
"Our freshmen played well," said Fedorjaka. "Voss was tough out there against a tough, physical team. Alyssa Dunn had a couple of nice drives and weaved her way in for some baskets.
"They are making us a better basketball team. I really liked what I saw from everybody. We are starting to play better."
Voss and junior Cosi Higham led the way with 11 points each for Bucknell. Higham led all players with 11 rebounds.
