By Andrew Mason | via WTBU Sports | Jan 28, 2018 |
LEWISBURG, Penn. — The Terriers reverted to old habits of poor starts in Saturday’s Patriot League matchup at Bucknell University, allowing the Bison to begin the game on a 7-0 run and take a 20-11 lead after the first quarter. BU was unable to regain lost ground, ultimately dropping their fifth straight game, this one by a score of 67-57.
With already as many league losses as a season ago, the scarlet and white’s last victory came on Jan. 11 in a conference battle at Colgate. At 8-12 overall and 3-7 in Patriot League play, BU holds a 2-7 record in 2018, and has not won in BU’s spring semester.
In preseason games, the Terriers came out sluggish on a regular basis. Luckily, Head Coach Katy Steding’s squad was able to break the habit in time for the regular season. Saturday was an exception.
“If we just play with the same energy throughout the whole game it will make the ends of games go better and be easier,” said junior guard Payton Hauck (14 points). “We sometimes put ourselves in a hole and then have to fight back in the end, which is hard.”
A York, Penn. native, playing at Bucknell acted as a sort of homecoming for Hauck. With friends and family present, she grabbed 14 points off of 6-of-9 shooting from the field.
“It’s always great to have friends and family at the game,” Hauck explained. “Definitely when on the road for a far away game.”
Hauck’s performance continues to make the Terriers’ bench an offensive threat, which has now outscored the starting unit in three of the last five contests.
Freshman Katie Nelson carried over her stellar shooting from the loss to Lafayette, by putting up 14 points of her own to go with a board and a pair of assists. The multiple Patriot League Rookie of the Week winner did most of her damage in the fourth quarter, hitting three triples and a layup in the final 10 minutes.
Senior captain Corrine Williams pulled in nine points and four rebounds. Co-captain Sophie Beaudry finished with six points and three boards in her third game coming off the bench.
The defending Patriot League champs of Bucknell have now won nine straight against BU. The two are not scheduled to meet again this season, but could see each other in March’s conference tournament.
Five games ties the longest losing streak for the Terriers since December of 2016. That Terrier team went on to break the streak by winning three straight games of their own.
BU has a shot to get back on the right track on Saturday, Feb. 3 as the 12-9 Lehigh Mountain Hawks are welcomed to Case Gym. The Terriers’ second-to-last weekend home game of the year will get underway at 2:00 p.m.