LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Canisius College women's basketball never trailed en route to a 55-47 win at Bucknell University in the Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Golden Griffins win their second consecutive road game to improve to 2-3 on the season.
Junior Ashley Wilkes led Canisius with 15 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Junior Allison Braun had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting, to go along with five rebounds. Freshman Kayla Hoohuli and senior Jamie Ruttle added seven points apiece.
"In the second half, Bucknell decided to increase the pressure and really trap the basketball. We struggled with that for a stretch, but made some big plays attacking the basket to get points when we needed them," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We'll learn from this game, and it's always better to learn after a win, especially on the road.
Canisius scored the first five points of the game, getting a 3-pointer from sophomore Jen Morabito and layup from junior Ashley Durham. The Griffs never trailed in the first half as Canisius held Bucknell without a field goal for four different stretches of three minutes or more. During the last eight minutes of the half, Canisius scored nine of the final 13 points with Wilkes scoring the final five points of the half, to put Canisius up by 10 at halftime.
Bucknell cut the Canisius lead to 36-33 with just over 10 minutes remaining after a layup by Alyssa Dunn, which capped an 8-2 Bison run. After both teams came up empty on their next possession, the Griffs went deep into the shot clock on the next possession. Hoohuli spun baseline, made the layup and was fouled with 8:34 remaining. That three-point play started an 11-4 Canisius run that gave Canisius a 47-37 lead. Bucknell came back and scored seven straight points to cut it to 47-44. A layup from Wilkes stopped the run and put Canisius up by five. Durham and Morabito combined to make all six free throws in the final 50 seconds to put the game away.
Dunn led Bucknell (1-7) with 13 points. Micki Impellizeri had nine points while Christina Chukwuedo had five assists.
Canisius returns home on Sunday, when the Golden Griffins host Colgate University in the first game of a basketball doubleheader at the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.
Notes: Canisius and Bucknell met for the first time since Nov. 27, 2002... The all-time series is now tied at 3-3... Canisius won back-to-back road games for the first time since Jan. 16 and 18, 2010, with wins at Rider and Loyola... Canisius is 2-3 for the third time in the last four seasons... The 15 points were a career high for Wilkes and the junior has grabbed five or more rebounds in four games... Canisius out-rebounded is opponent for the first time this season... Sophomore Jen Lennox made her first start of the season.
