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‘ The ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ women’s basketball team opened up the weekend with a 78-66 victory over Bucknell in Patriot League play on Friday afternoon.  Malissa Burke ('xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Traverse City, Mich.) was the Raiders leading scorer with 24 points and five rebounds.'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />

Bucknell jumped out to a 6-2 lead off back-to-back layups from freshman Lindsey Hollobaugh to start the contest.  ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ then fought back to take an 11-10 lead off of a jumper from Leandra Fuller (Harrisburg, Pa.) at 13:41. 

The Bison reclaimed the lead and moved ahead by a score of 27-19 following a 12-2 scoring run capped by a jumper from Desire Almind at 6:35.  ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ responded with a six-point surge of their own to bring the score to 29-25 with 5:20 remaining in the half.

Junior Chigozie Ozor (Ann Arbor, Mich.) drained two free throws to end a string of a seven unanswered points with 3:49 left to play to give the Raiders a 32-31 edge.  ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ extended its lead to four when Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y.) drained one from out deep with just over a minute left to send the Raiders into the locker room up 37-33.

¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ was 15-for-29 shooting 51.7 percent from the field, while the Bison shot 36.1 percent with a 13-for-36 effort from the floor.  The Raiders had the slight advantage in rebounding with 20 boards to Bucknell’s 18.   ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ committed seven turnovers while forcing four.

The Raiders opened up the second with a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 46-37 before the Bison charged back to tie the game at 46 after nine unanswered points of their own.  By the ten minute mark the Raiders pulled out to a 58-50 lead and with five minutes remaining still maintained an eight-point advantage.  The Bison were unable to chip away at ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s lead in the final five minutes and ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ came away with the 78-66 victory.

Malissa Burke (Traverse City, Mich.) led five players in double-figures with 24 points.  Fuller added 12 points, six rebounds, and three blocks to the effort.  She now needs just three swats to break the ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ career record for blocked shots.  Ozor knocked down 13 points, dished four assists and grabbed six rebounds.

Emily Braseth (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) scored ten points and came away with five rebounds and three steals in the contest.  Milaina Lagzdins (Burlington, Ont.) was the Raiders leading rebounder with ten boards and 11 points for her third double-double of the season.  Curtin contributed eight points and four rebounds in the victory.

Brooke Tomovich led four Bison scoring in double-figures scoring 16 points and dishing four assists.  Hollobaugh added 14 points and seven rebounds to the Bison effort.  Kristin Valdner and Lindsey Goesits added 12 and 13 points respectively.  Almind was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Raiders improve to 12-7 overall and 4-2 in league play while Bucknell falls to 8-9 on the season and 2-4 in conference play.  ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ closes out the Patriot League weekend in Bethlehem, Pa. where they face-off against Lehigh in Stabler Arena at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.