Dec. 9, 2000
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Game 9: vs. Air Force
Dec. 10, 2000 * A.P. Kirby Sports Center (3,500) * 12:00 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leopards' meeting with the Air Force Academy this season is only the second meeting in history of the two programs. Air Force holds the 1-0 edge over Lafayette, a 78-56 win over the Leopards on Dec. 4, 1999, in the consolation game of the Falcon's home tournament.
LAST MEETING: Lafayette whittled away an 18-point Air Force lead to just 10 before halftime but a last second three-pointer by the Falcons gave the home team a 13-point advantage heading in the locker rooms and the Leopards could not catch up. Jen Corvigno had a career-high 11 points in the Leopard loss.
NEXT UP: Lafayette plays its final game before the New Year on Dec. 22 at Maryland. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 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 290-268 mark (.520) 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).
Sue Darling (Arizona '83) is in her third season as a collegiate head coach and at the helm of the Air Force program. She posted a record of 9-45 in her first two years with the Falcons and is backed up on the coaching staff by assistants Robyne Bostick (St. Joseph's '93), Marc Acker (Arizona '96) and Lauren Maher (Air Force '00).
FAREWELL, KIRBY, 'TIL NEXT YEAR
Lafayette's game versus Air Force is the squad's last game in the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center during the year 2000. The Leopards posted a mark of 6-9 at APK in the new millenium and will return to their home court on Jan. 10 against rival Lehigh to open up the 2001 home schedule.
BAYER-ING DOWN
Sophomore center Jennifer Bayer has continued her dominance in the low post this season, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding through eight games. The Lowell, Ind., native is averaging 13.8 points per game this season to go along with an 8.9 rebounding average per contest. She also averages 30 minutes per game, proving her ability to avoid foul trouble while remaining agressive on the glass and in the lane. The 6-1 sophomore is shooting .588 from the field and .625 from the free-throw line, a place where she has grown accustomed to visiting this season as she is an easy target for opponents in the paint.
BREAKING THE TREND
Despite Lafayette's disappointing loss at Yale on Friday, the team broke its tendency this season to keep its points total below 60. The Leopards' 61 points against the Bulldogs marked just the second time this season that the team has broken the 60-point barrier. A large part of that breakthrough for Lafayette against Yale was its 75% shooting from the free-throw line. Jen Bayer shot 8-for-10, Christel Rocha was 3-for-4, Samaiyah Council was 2-of-4 and Colleen Fitzpatrick was a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe. The other game in which Lafayette broke 60 points was the Leopards' 77-51 rout of St. Francis (N.Y.) in the consolation game of the Warner's Classic at Fairfield, Conn., on Nov. 25.
THE AIR FORCE FALCONS
Air Force comes to Kirby with a record of 2-5 so far on the season. The Falcons opened their 2000-01 slate with a 76-44 loss to Denver on Nov. 17, but they bounced back two days later with a 66-59 win at Cal State Fullerton. The win at Fullerton snapped the team's 19-game road losing streak, dating back to Jan. 4, 1999.
The Falcons dropped their next game at Southern Utah but took a win over Lamar in the first round of their annual home tournament on Dec. 2. Air Force seems to have hit rough spot of late, however, losing its last three games to North Texas, Baylor and most recently at Army on Friday. The 82-67 loss at West Point was the first game of women's basketball's equivalent of the Commander-in-Chief Trophy for the two programs.
GUARDING THE GUARDS
Lafayette opponents have found out the hard way that defending the Leopard backcourt is a challenge in its own right. Point guard Christel Rocha is a threat from the outside as well as inside the paint, averaging 12 points and eight boards per contest. She also has a team-high 15 steals on the season. Her partner in the Leopard starting backcourt, Megan Haughey, has come into her own during her freshman campaign, averaging 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest while fighting for 14 steals.
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 Air Force.
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.
