March 20, 2008
Patriot League Women's Basketball Release - NCAA Tournament First Round 
Bucknell Faces North Carolina In NCAA First Round
Bucknell will play No. 1 seed North Carolina on Sunday in Norfolk, Va., at Old Dominion's Ted Constant Convocation Center in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Game time is set for Noon and will be broadcast regionally on ESPN2.
Bucknell earned the Patriot League's automatic bid after being crowned tournament champion as the No. 5 seed. Bucknell earned the trophy with a 57-45 victory on the home court of second-seeded Holy Cross. The Bison improved to 16-15 this year with its win over Holy Cross in the championship game. It is the first time this season the Bison have been over .500.
The Bison will be making their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance on Sunday. The Bison also played in the national tourney in 2002, falling to second-seeded Baylor in the first round in Waco, Texas.
North Carolina (30-2) was also a conference champion, representing the ACC. The Tar Heels are ranked second in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today national polls.
Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Bucknell and North Carolina. The Bison did play an ACC team this season, falling to Duke in December at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Patriot League has only notched one victory in the NCAA Tournament in its 17 previous appearances. The win came in 1991 when Holy Cross defeated Maryland in the first round.
This year marks the third time the Patriot League has played its NCAA first round game in Norfolk, Va. In 1996 Holy Cross dropped a game to Old Dominion and in 2006 Army fell to Tennessee.
The Bison are bracketed in the New Orleans Regional, and the winner of the Bucknell-North Carolina game will meet the winner of eighth-seeded Georgia (22-9) and ninth-seeded Iowa (21-10).
Patriot League Notebook
Lowest Seeded Champion
Bucknell won the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 5 seed after going 8-6 in League play and are the lowest seed to ever earn the championship crown. The Bison had to defeat the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds to earn their second Patriot League Tournament title in League history. Two of the wins had to come on their opponent's home court and one in a neutral site.
Vindication
A year ago Bucknell was the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament but was knocked out in the first round of the tourney by the No. 8 seed. Bucknell is the fourth team in the last five years to go from losing in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament to claiming the title the next season.
Back-To-Back Postseasons
Bucknell will be making its second-straight postseason appearance. Last year, Bucknell participated in the WNIT. The Bison dropped a 70-54 game to Hartford in the first round.
2002 Championship Connections
Current Bucknell Head Coach Kathy Fedorjaka was also the mentor of the Bison when they won their first Patriot League title in school history in 2002, while current Assistant Coach Monique LeBlanc was a senior on the 2001-02 Bucknell team that made a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Foster's Mark In NCAA History
Bucknell senior Hope Foster is 19th on the NCAA's Division I all-time blocks list with 343 career rejections. Foster became the League's career block leader earlier this season, surpassing a mark that stood since 1997.
Career Watch
Bucknell senior Hope Foster is first all-time in Patriot League annals in blocks (343), eighth in rebounds (896) and 33rd in points (1,253). Foster needs six more boards to tie former Bison Vicki Quimby for the next slot up with 902 boards for seventh all-time.
Another To 1,000
Bucknell senior Kesha Champion surpassed the 1,000 career points mark with 13 in the Patriot League Tournament Championship Game. She entered the contest needing five to reach the milestone mark. She is the fourth Patriot League player to reach that mark this season and becomes the 58th all-time. She joins teammate Hope Foster as Bison to pass the mark this year.
Bison Tourney "D"
Bucknell limited its three opponents in the Patriot League Tournament to 144 points. That figure is the best three-game total by a team's defense in the tournament. Bison opponents made 50-of-191 (26.2 percent) in the tournament. None of Bucknell's three opponents shot better than 30.0 percent. Just once in the last 13 games has a Bison opponent scored at least 60 points in a game.
Patriot League Defense
Half of the Patriot League's eight teams rank within the top 50 among NCAA Division I schools in scoring defense. Lehigh is the League's top ranking team, coming in sixth in the nation (52.9). That mark is the best in Patriot League history in the yearly scoring defense category. Also, ranking in to top 50 are Army at 17, American at 32 and Lafayette at 50.
Reaching Six, Most With At Least 18
For the third time in Patriot League history six teams posted six or more League wins. The other two times this has occurred was during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons. The League also has its greatest number of teams with at least 18 overall wins (American, Army, Holy Cross and Lehigh) this year.
Hayes Repeats As Scholar-Athlete
For the second year in a row American's Liz Hayes was named the Patriot League Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Hayes carries a 3.61 grade-point average as a public communications major. She was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA All-District Academic All-America list. The senior guard was named First-Team All-Patriot League this season after averaging 12.9 points per game.
Academic Achievement
The Patriot League landed two of its women's basketball student-athletes on the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District list. American senior Liz Hayes was named to the first team in District 2 and Colgate senior Caitlin Gillard was selected to the second team in District 1.
Road Warriors
American became just the third team in Patriot League history to go undefeated on the road in League games (7-0) when it notched a 60-57 overtime victory at Lafayette on the last day of the season. The other team to do so was Holy Cross during the 1990-91 campaign and the 1996-97 season. The Crusaders went a perfect 12-0 in Patriot League games both years.
Closing Out Careers
Army' Cara Enright, Holy Cross' Laura Aloisi and Lafayette's Vanessa Van De Venter all closed out their careers in the Patriot League Tournament, but not before leaving their mark in the Patriot League record books. Enright finished her career seventh all-time in the Patriot League in scoring (1,719) and ninth in three-pointers made (174). Aloisi closed out her career with 445 assists over four years, including only playing 10 games last season before sitting out due to injury. Aloisi's 445 assists rank her seventh on the Patriot League's all-time career chart. Van De Venter ranks 24th in all-time scoring (1,381) and 26th in career rebounds (643).
American Drops Heartbreaker In WNIT First Round
American fell to Villanova in the first round of the WNIT on Wednesday at The Pavilion on Nova's campus by a final score of 53-52. American freshman Liz Leer put the Eagles up by one with a little over eight seconds remaining with a quick hoop under the basket. Villanova responded with a Laura Kurz basket with one second left in regulation to give Villanova the win.
American senior Liz Hayes finished with a game-high 14 points and three assists and fell just three baskets short of tying the American career three-point field goals made record. Classmates Stephanie N'Garsanet scored 13 points, while Maggie Smith-Davidson scored four points and added three rebounds and three assists to end her career. Leer rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
Promoting Women's Hoops
The Patriot League received one of 17 grants as part of the newly designed NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program. Approximately $750,000 in grant money was given to schools and conferences by the NCAA. The Patriot League received $40,000 as part of the program. The grant program is designed to foster the growth of women's basketball on NCAA member campuses and within NCAA member conferences.
Patriot League All-Access and Highlights
Watch the majority of Patriot League Men's and Women's Basketball regular-season and tournament games on high-speed Broadband. For $7.95 a month, this cutting-edge technology takes your from your seat to the sideline with multi-camera coverage. Visit your school's website or www.PatriotLeague.com for more information.
A twice-a-week highlight package can also be found on the Patriot League website. The highlight videos are free of charge and will be available on the League's website twice a week. Footage is taken from the Patriot League's and CSTV's All-Access package.
