Nov. 28, 2000
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Game 6: vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Nov. 29, 2000 * A.P. Kirby Sports Center (3,500) * 5:45 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: This is Lafayette's fifth meeting with the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson. The Leopards hold a 3-1 edge over the Knights in the all-time series, last meeting on Dec. 8 of last year at the George and Phyllis Rothman Center.
LAST MEETING: Lafayette, on the strength of Christina LiVecchi's career-high 20 points, along with 10 rebounds, captured its first victory of the season with a 64-54 win over host Fairleigh Dickinson.
NEXT UP: Lafayette hosts its third consecutive game of the season and tries to keep its winning streak alive as the Princeton University Tigers visit College Hill on Dec. 6 at 5:45 p.m.
THE COACHES
Leopard Head Coach Pat Fisher (East Stroudsburg '60) is the winningest coach in the history of Lafayette College basketball. She has led the program to a 290-266 mark (.522) since arriving on College Hill. She earned East Coast Conference (ECC) Coach of the Year honors three times, while leading the Leopards to conference titles in 1984-85 and 1986-87. Fisher is assisted by LaRonda Murphy (Saginaw Valley State '91), Dean Dedopoulos (North Adams State '79) and Val Davis (Kutztown '83).
Sandy Gordon (Manhattan '88) is in just her second season as a collegiate coach and at the head of the women's program at Fairleigh Dickinson. She guided her team to an 11-17 overall record and a Northeast Conference record of 10-8. Gordon is joined on the Knights' coaching staff by assistants Lisa Mikelic (Fairfield '91) and Kia Damon (Millersville '97).
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Tonight's game against Fairleigh Dickinson is the second of three consecutive home games in two weeks for the Leopards this season. Lafayette's home opener was the first game of a women's and men's doubleheader on Monday, as the women recorded a 57-55 nail-biting win over visiting Sacred Heart. The Leopards' welcome the Tigers of Princeton University to Kirby on Dec. 6 at 5:45 p.m.
GONE IN EIGHT SECONDS
Sophomore center Jennifer Bayer returned to the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center on Monday night ready to show the home crowd that last year's stint as the team's leading scorer as a rookie was no joke. What better way to make that statement than to grab an offensive rebound and score the game-winning basket in the 57-55 heartstopper over Sacred Heart with :08 remaining? The Lowell, Ind., native grabbed a missed Megan Haughey free throw with nine seconds left and went up for the winning putback basket a second later after the Leopards blew a 14-point second half lead over the Pioneers. Bayer finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds, marking her 12th career double-double and her first of the season.
ROCHA'S ROCK Christel Rocha, the 1997-98 Patriot League Rookie of the Year who took last season off for personal reasons, proved to the skeptics that the Spring 2000 graduation of the Leopards' All-League floor general Sarah Harris did not spell disaster for the program. Rocha has returned to the starting lineup as the point guard and has proven she is back and ready to play. The senior Lansing, Mich., native is averaging 13.0 points per game and 29.8 minutes per contest. After her year's hiatus, Rocha walked back into Kirby Sports Center Monday night in front of a home crowd to score 16 first-half points in a 22-point output over the visiting Sacred Heart Pioneers. Two words come to mind to Lafayette fans regarding Rocha: Welcome back.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON The Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson come into their meeting with Lafayette with a record of 0-2 on the season, most recently losing 73-53 to Hartford at home on Nov. 25. Megan Prol and Karen Tiedemann are the pair of towering 5-11 FDU weapons who have done the most damage to their opponents thus far. Prol leads the squad in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13.0 points and 5.5 boards per game. The senior guard scored 14 points against the Hawks and had notched 12 in the team's opening season loss to Georgetown on Nov. 17, 70-46. Tiedemann recorded 13 points against the Hoyas but was held to just six in the Hartford loss. The senior from Fallston, Md., is the team-leader in assists with nine on the season, including six in the Georgetown loss.
THE ROOKIE REPORT CARD With five games under their young belts, the Leopard freshmen are starting to get the hang of the college game and their older teammates. Colleen Fitzpatrick, the forward from Springfield, Pa., has been impressive in the post as she is third on the team in scoring with a 8.6 per game average. Pittstown, N.J., native Megan Haughey has shown her versatility as the team's starting off-guard, averaging 7.2 points on 15-27 shooting. A pleasant surprise in the last two games for the Lafayette coaching staff has been Hawaiian import Ashley Watamura. The 5-11 forward has come in off the bench for relief in the post and is showing tremendous improvement and potential with every game. Although the freshmen class now has some valuable experience, the rookies know that once Patriot League play starts in January, it will be a whole new ballgame and they will have to step up their games even more to keep up with the fierce league competition.
ROJAHN INJURY UPDATE Elizabeth Rojahn, Lafayette's second-leading scorer last season, has not been able to dress for a game yet this season due to a lower back injury suffered in mid-September. The 5-10 forward started all the Leopards' 29 contests last season, averaging 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman. Rojahn is currently listed as day-to-day and will not compete against Fairleigh Dickinson.
2000-01 CAPTAINS Samaiyah Council and Laurie Infantino have been named the captains of the 2000-01 Lafayette women's basketball team. Selected by their teammates, Council and Infantino will provide the team with leadership and experience both on and off the court this season. Council will watch over the backcourt this season as a point guard while Infantino will take charge of the frontcourt as a 5-11 junior forward.
LAFAYETTE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM The Lafayette College women's basketball team will see at least 12 contests hit the television air waves this season. The Lafayette Sports Network will air games to more than 5.2 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, central New Jersey, New York City and Boston. Locally, the telecasts will be aired on RCN TV-4 and WBPH-TV 60, and will cover the entire Lehigh Valley as well as Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Mercer and Warren counties in New Jersey.
LEOPARDS WALK ON AIR WAVES Lafayette's women's basketball team boasts the largest commercial radio package in the Patriot League this season, seeing at least 12 of its contests take to the airwaves of WEST-AM Stereo 1400. Both of the Leopards' home and away regular season league contests against Lehigh, Bucknell, Navy, Holy Cross and Army will be broadcast by the voice of Lafayette Athletics Dick Hammer, one of the most highly-respected radio broadcasters in the Northeast. Broadcasts will begin approximately five minutes before tipoff while coverage of the Patriot League tournament will also be accessible to the listening public.
LEOPARDS PROWL THE WEB Check out the latest information on all Lafayette sports on the web:
www.lafayette.edu
You can find press releases, game notes, schedules, rosters, players features, photos, fan polls, box scores, up-to-date season statistics and much more. Also, a journal by junior Christina LiVecchi is featured on the site. The web is updated within an hour of each contest.
