The AU women's basketball team lost, 73-38, to the Bucknell Bison at Sojka Pavilion Tuesday night to fall to 3-6 in the Patriot League.
Coming off an emotional win at Lehigh over the weekend, the Eagles never got on track against the Bison, falling behind early and never getting back in the game.
They were down 28-13 entering halftime and suffered through a 9-0 Bucknell run to open the second half to find themselves down 37-13.
"They pressured us well and we couldn't handle it," said Eagles coach Melissa McFerrin. "The last 33 minutes were a product of the tempo they set in the first seven minutes."
AU was led by senior Tala Hadavi, who scored 12 points, but committed a game-high 11 turnovers as she faced constant backcourt pressure. Just as on Saturday, Hadavi had to handle most of the ball-handling duties as starting point guard Pam Stanfield was limited to only 14 minutes as she recovers from the flu.
The freshman duo of Sahar Nusseibeh and Tish Curry that had been so effective of late was relatively ineffective on Tuesday, combining for only 11 points and 14 rebounds down low.
Bucknell sported a balanced attack with five players in double figures, paced by Amanda Brown, Hope Foster and Jacquie Seawright, who led 13 points each. "We were outmanned tonight by a much deeper, healthier team," McFerrin said.
AU came out and took a 2-0 lead on a Hadavi jumper, but that would prove to be the only highlight of the night for AU as Bucknell started out in a full-court press and never looked back. A Kesha Champion jumper gave the Bison a 5-4 with 17 minutes left in the first half and they never trailed again.
AU committed 30 turnovers and was outrebounded 48-31.
After playing such an efficient offensive game against Lehigh, the Eagles shot an icy 27 percent (only 19 percent in the first half) and dished out only three assists, compared with Bison's 20.
"We came in tonight looking to play with the league's best and we just couldn't handle what they threw at us," McFerrin said. "We embarrassed ourselves."
The Eagles need to get over their disappointment quickly as the Colgate Raiders come to Bender Arena on Sunday. The Raiders knocked off Lafayette Tuesday to move a game ahead of the Eagles, who are now in sixth place.
If AU can win Sunday, they will move back into at least fifth place in the league. A Navy loss would tied the Eagles four fourth.
The Eagles will look to have Stanfield and Nicole Ryan back at full strength and return to the confines of their home court for the nationally televised game.
"I want to see us come out on Sunday and avenge this loss to prove that we're a better team" than we were tonight, McFerrin said.
