Dec. 21, 2000
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) -
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Game 10: at Maryland
Dec. 22, 2000 * Cole Field House (14,500) * 7:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: This is Lafayette's first-ever meeting with the Terrapins of Maryland.
LAST ACC MEETING: The last time the Leopards faced an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent was on Dec. 30, 1998, as the squad fell to Georgia Tech, 100-52, in the championship game of the Yellow Jackets' Holiday Invitational.
NEXT UP: Lafayette opens up the new year with three consecutive non-conference road games: at George Mason (1/2), at Rider (1/4) and at Albany (1/6). The Leopards open Patriot League play on Jan. 10 when they host conference rival Lehigh.
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 291-268 mark (.521) 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).
Chris Weller (Maryland '66) has been a mainstay in the Maryland program as she is in her 26th year as the Terrapins' head coach. The Maryland alum boasts an overall career record of 476-259 (.648) and is backed up on the sideline by assistant coaches Christy Winters Scott (Maryland '90), Allison Jones (St. John's '81) and Jocelyn Katsock (NYU '91).
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (TRIP): Lafayette's game at Maryland is the first of four consecutive away games for the Leopards in pre-conference play. The road trip to Cole Field House is followed by a bit of a break before the Leopards play three away games in five days when they travel to George Mason on Jan. 2, Rider two days later and Albany two days after that. The Leopards are currently 0-3 on the road, last losing at Yale on Dec. 8.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE ACC: Lafayette's meeting with Maryland is only the second time the Leopards have faced an opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the history of the program. The Leopards have their chance to earn their first win over an ACC opponent as they are currently winless against schools in the conference with a record of 0-4. Lafayette has faced only two of the nine institutions that make up the ACC before its meeting against the Terrapins this season. The Leopards versus ACC opponents: Clemson ......... 0-0 Georgia Tech ....... 0-3 N.C. State ........ 0-0 Duke ............... 0-0 Maryland ............ 0-0 Virgina ............ 0-1 Florida State .. 0-0 North Carolina ... 0-0 Wake Forest .... 0-0
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS:So far this season, the Leopards have outrebounded their opponents by 64 boards and have posted a mark of 4-1 when they grab more rebounds than their foes. In the squad's win over Princeton, the Leopards dominated the boards, recording 53 rebounds to the Tigers' meager 29. Sophomore center Jennifer Bayer set the pace for Lafayette, recording a career-high 19 boards against the Ivy League opponent and she is currently fifth in the Patriot League rebounding standings. Lafayette currently leads the league in rebounding defense (32.6 per game) and team rebounding margin (+7.3).
THE MARYLAND TERRAPINS: Maryland enters its contest against Lafayette with an impressive 7-2 overall record (0-1 ACC) on the season. The Terps opened up their 2000-01 slate with six consecutive wins before registering their first loss of the season on Dec. 5 at the home of the nationally-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. The team followed up its loss at the Bryce Jordan Center with an 87-69 loss just four days later at ACC foe North Carolina. The Terrapins are most recently coming off a 73-42 trouncing of Coppin State on Nov. 12 at Cole Field House. Maryland's six-game season opening win streak included victories over Howard, Loyola, Wagner, Delaware, Dayton and UMBC. The Terps are also undefeated at 5-0 on their home court this season.
THE COMEBACK KID: Sophomore reserve guard Kim Costello has finally overcome a slew of injuries that hampered her last season and is now a key contributer on the floor for Lafayette. Costello set two career-highs in the Leopards' win over Princeton, netting 18 points and grabbing seven rebounds. She scored in double figures two other times this season, both of which were Lafayette victories. Costello came off the bench to score 10 points in Lafayette's nail-biting 57-55 win over Sacred Heart and she added 11 points on 4-for-4 from the field against Air Force, including 3-for-3 from three-point land. The Arlington, N.Y., native is averaging 5.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
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 Maryland.
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 LEADS THE NATION -- AGAIN: For the second straight year, the Lafayette College women's basketballprogram is ranked first in the nation as one of 11 Division I institutions to graduate all women's basketball players in the latest NCAA Graduation Rates Report. The latest report is for student-athletes who entered from 1990 to 1993, and Lafayette's women's basketball graduation rate was aperfect 100 percent.
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.
In addition, you can recieve a daily e-mail update by e-mailing krewsonp@mail.lafayette.edu and requesting your e-mail address be added to the daily update list.
