For Bison today, it’s ‘Now’ or never

Bucknell plays Carolina in first-round game today

By JAKE FELIX, jfelix@sungazette.com
LEWISBURG — Those outside the Bucknell women’s basketball program wondered most of the season when these Bison were going to live up to the preseason expectations.

Days before the start of the Patriot League Tournament, Bucknell finally had an answer.

“NOW.”

Three tournament wins later, the Bison had followed their new mantra to secure the Patriot League’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

“We peaked at the right time,” said senior Hope Foster. “Our focus was to keep playing. We had a sense of urgency at the end of the year and we knew that today could be it.”

The 16th-seeded Bison (16-15) will play No. 1 seed North Carolina (30-2) noon Sunday at Old Dominion’s Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va., in the first round of the New Orleans Region.

Reaching this point was expected in the preseason, but seemed nearly impossible as the season grew longer. The Bison were league favorites entering 2007-08, and returned the Patriot League Player of the Year — Foster — and the Defensive Player of the Year — Kesha Champion.

They were also coming off a 20-11 season, one of their best in school history. It was Bucknell’s third 20-win season all-time, and their first with 12 league wins..

But this year’s senior class began to regress to their freshman-year form, a year when Bucknell went just 10-18. A tough non-conference schedule left them losers of five of their first seven games. An 8-6 league record relegated them to a fifth seed for the tournament. And the Bison were just 3-4 in the league at home, leaving further Mystery.

The coaching staff and locker room kept digging for answers. A year before, the Bison became the first PL No. 1 seed to lose a first-round tournament game. As result, this preseason, the players’ notebooks were covered with the words lessons learned.

While it took those lessons longer to sink in than many expected, a regular-season finale victory over Army at home allowed the Bison to carry a winning feeling into the tournament.

That’s when a fresher rallying cry took hold.

Bucknell’s new word of choice was plastered on blue lettering on posterboard during Monday’s Selection Show. Blue towels with orange stitching were also made to remind the players of their commitment to the present.

Fedorjaka drew strength from the word while attending an American Idol concert that featured Jordin Sparks, the winner of the sixth season of the show. The song “This is my Now” struck a chord with the 11th year Bison coach. Assistant coach Corey Laster, who attended the concert with Fedorjaka, found a way to translate the song into a motivation speech.

“I told them that I want you to buy into this,” said Fedorjaka. “I don’t care that we were the fifth seed. If we believe we are one of the best teams, it doesn’t matter what seed we are.”

And it didn’t.

The Bison toppled three straight higher seeds on their way to their second Patriot League title. The run began with wins over fourth-seeded Army and top-seeded American, before ending with a victory over No. 2 seed Holy Cross on the Crusaders’ home floor.

“We began playing with passion and heart,” said junior Amanda Brown. “We began playing with everything on the line and we gave 150 percent.

“This our time.”

Now, it is.





No. 16 Bucknell (16-15) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (30-2)

Where: Ted Cosntant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Va.

When: Today, noon

TV: ESPN2

Up next: Winner plays the winner of No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Iowa.

Bucknell notes: Only one other Patriot League school has won a NCAA tournament game — Holy Cross in 1991. Since, the league has dropped 15 straight tournament games.... The Bison enter with a four-game winning streak... Bucknell is 0-6 all-time against the ACC... Kesha Champion is 18 minutes shy of equaling Molly Creamer for the most minutes played in a season. Champion lives less than seven miles away from today’s site... Hope Foster is six rebounds shy of equaling Vicki Quimby for first on the all-time Bison list... Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1994, No. 1 seeds are 1-55 in the first round with Harvard’s victory over Stanford in 1998 as the lone upset... Bucknell is 0-3 against teams in the tournament field, losing to Ivy League champ Cornell, 74-63, Marist, 68-56, and Duke, 92-49... The Bison will set a new school record for games played in a season, breaking the mark of 31 set in 2001-02.

North Carolina notes: The Tar Heels have been a No. 1 seed in the tournament for four straight years and five overall... They were 15-2 against the tournament field this season, losing to fellow top seeds Tennessee and Connecticut.