BOXSCORE
LEWISBURG,Pa. - The Hampton University women’s basketball team used a 22-15 run to overcome a 15-point second half deficit, but could not take the lead as it fell 85-77 to host Bucknell University in their first game of the season at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.
The Lady Pirates (0-1,0-0), who have returned all five starters from last year’s team, got off to a sluggish start in this one but had the Lady Bison (1-0, 0-0) to sweat things out down the stretch as Hampton used an aggressive full-court press to cut what was once a 22-point deficit down to four in the final minute.
HU shot 42 percent from the floor in the first half as Bucknell parlayed 16 Lindsey Hollobaugh points into a seemingly commanding 45-29 lead at intermission. The advantage grew to 22 points early in the second half after three straight rejections by Hope Foster on one Hampton possession, followed by a Kesha Champion transition 3-pointer at the other end.
Nonetheless The Lady Pirates had plenty of fight left as a driving lay-up through traffic by sophomore Roneisha Corbitt (Philadelphia, Pa. / Paul Robeson HS) triggered an 11-point scoring rally by the blue and white. Over the next four minutes they pressured the Bison into seven turnovers and scored 11 straight points after the Champion three. Six different players scored during that run, including junior Artavia Burns (Dallas, Texas/Lincoln HS) who scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half of play. With 11:05 showing on the clock Stephanie James (Colorado Springs, Colo./ Sierra HS) hit two free throws making it 57-46 and causing the Bison to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, a Foster jumper ended the Bison scoring drought that lasted almost five minutes, and Bucknell was able to maintain a double-figure lead until the 6:13 mark sophomore Ashlee Finley (Harrisburg, Pa. / Harrisburg HS) made a pair of free throws to pull Hampton within nine at 65-56.
Two free throws from Andrea Wright and a lay-up by Foster pushed the lead back to 11 at 76-65 with 2:23 to play. But over the next 60 seconds the Bison missed four straight free throws, keeping Hampton alive.
A 3-pointer from Rachel Butler (Dallas, Texas/Lincoln HS) made it a five-point game at 76-71 with 1:03 left. But the Pirates couldn’t hang on as Amanda Brown sealed the win at charity stripe.
Burns and Butler’s 15 points apiece paced three Lady Pirates in double figures, while James added 10. Finley added a team-high 10 rebounds, although Hampton was out rebounded 44-42. HU out rebounded Bucknell 26-24 in the second half.
After shooting 41.9 percent in the first half, Hampton fell off to 35 percent in the second. Seemingly the game was a foul fest as both teams committed 53 personal fouls combined with HU connecting only 19-33 (58 %) of their shots from the free-throw line while Bucknell connected 25-32 (78%) which made the difference down the stretch.
Hampton turned the ball over 18 times and forced 24 Bison miscues.
The Lady Pirates will now look to win their first game of the season Fri., Nov. 17 as they host North Texas at 6 p.m. inside the HU Convocation Center.
