By Shawn Wood
LEWISBURG -- With each game, Bucknell coach Kathy Fedorjaka knows her young squad will face a new situation.
Saturday's game again a Fordham was no different.
But Fedorjaka's young squad controlled the boards and second-chance shots against a physical Rams team as they snapped a season-opening three-game losing streak with a 63-56 win on Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion.
"It almost didn't seem like we were 0-3. We had some tough teams coming out of the gate and I thought that this team was growing, doing a lot of good things and I'm just really confident in them," Fedorjaka said.
The Bison (1-3) had three players scoring in double figures, led by sophomore Morgan Wrightson's career-high 25 points. Joyce Novacek had her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 15 boards while freshman Rachel Voss set her career-high with 13 points.
"We struggled offensively in the first half, especially with the half-court set," Fedorjaka said. "But I thought Morgan's 3-pointer at the end of the half was really big."
Said shot was Wrightson's buzzer-beat from 40-feet at the end of the first half, giving the Bison to a four-point lead, 29-25 at the break. The biggest lead of the half was five points, which happened twice.
It was the second time this season that Wrightson was the leading scorer in a game. She led the Bison with 12 in the season-opener against Miami (Ohio) on Nov. 14.
The Bison shot 48 percent from the floor for the game and out rebounded the Rams 44-29, holding a deceive edge in defensive rebounds 30-18.
The rebounding margin was a big key in the win according to Fedorjaka.
"It was huge," she said. "We were struggling offensively in the first half and we started to play better offensively in the second half. But I really noticed Joyce's rebounding and offensive play in the first half."
Novacek 15 rebounds (six offensive, nine defensive) set a career-high for the junior whose uncle is Jay Novacek, the former tight-end with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Bison opened up an eight-point lead early in the second half and improved their free throw shooting from 1-of-8 in the first half to 10-for-12 in the second half. Wrightson was a perfect 7-for-7 from the line with all of her free-throws coming in the second half.
Randall Hurst led the Rams (1-2) with 23 points, including 15 in the first half. Fordham was 2-for-13 in the game from behind the arc.
"We were trying to bring some help from out guards which wasn't really effective," Fedorjaka said. "She's a very good offensive player, especially in the blocks. But we altered in the second half, brought the sag and the double from our other post player to try and front her."
