By Thomas Walter

It was an emotional season for the women’s basketball team. After making it to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament behind the sensational play of Patriot League All-Rookie Team guard Shelby Romine ’14, the expectations coming into this year were high. But after starting off 2-15, the longest tenured coach in the history of the program, Kathy Fedorjaka, announced her resignation.

The Bison’s struggles continued throughout the rest of the season as the team got knocked out in the first round of Patriot League Tournament. But now, hopefully that struggle will be over as a new era of Orange and Blue basketball begins with a new head coach, Aaron Roussell.

Rousell is the product of a comprehensive national search that has taken place over the last several months. Rousell has been the head women’s coach at the University of Chicago for the past eight years, where he earned the most victories in the program’s history with 161-50, including 52-5 over the last two seasons.

“I could not be more excited about the opportunity to lead the women’s basketball program at Bucknell University,” Roussell said. “From both a basketball and an academic standpoint, I believe Bucknell is the ideal fit for me. I am extremely thankful to the University of Chicago, because it has prepared me perfectly for a program like Bucknell and the Patriot League as a whole, which places academics in the highest regard. To be frank, there is no way I would have left Chicago unless it was for a place that shared my values on what the student-athlete experience should be all about.”

With the majority of the 2011-2012 team returning, Rousell will look to continue his coaching success when the women hit the courts next winter.