Jan. 12, 2001
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Game 15: vs. Bucknell
Jan. 13, 2001 * A.P. Kirby Sports Center (3,500) * 1:00 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Lafayette's meeting against Bucknell on Saturday will be the 46th meeting between the two programs. The Leopards currently hold a 29-16 advantage over the Bison in the all-time series.
LAST MEETING: Lafayette closed out its regular season on Feb. 27, 2000, with a stunning 61-60 win over Bucknell on the Bison's home floor. Elizabeth Rojahn hit a lay-up with 1:30 remaining that proved to be the game-winner as the Leopards made two impressive defensive stops to hold onto the edge at the buzzer.
NEXT UP: The Leopards head to Annapolis, Md., for a Patriot League matchup with Navy on Jan. 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. and will be followed by the men's contest at 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 292-273 mark (.517) 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).
Heading up the Bucknell program for the fourth year is head coach Kathy Fedorjaka (Fairfield '90). In seven years of head coaching, including stints at Connecticut College and Bloomsburg before taking over the Bison program, she amassed a record of 107-81 (.569). Fedorjaka is aided on the sideline by assistants Liz Cranmer-Briggs (St. Anselm '91) and Jim Reed (Bucknell '85), along with graduate assistant Christie Berry (Bloomsburg '99).
HOME AT LAST: Lafayette wrapped up its four-game road swing at Albany last Saturday and is playing only its second game at the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center since its meeting versus Air Force on Dec. 10. The Leopards began their road stint against Maryland on Dec. 22 and continued on to George Mason on Jan. 2, Rider two days later and Albany on Dec. 6. The Leopards' game versus the Mountain Hawks on Wednesday was their first home game of 2001. Lafayette posted a record of 7-9 at Kirby in the year 2000 and has started 2001 with a mark of 0-1 at home.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has amassed a record of 128-92 over the current members of the Patriot League, boasting a winning percentage of .582. The Leopards hold a winning advantage in each all-time series against league opponents except current two-time defending Patriot League champion Holy Cross and Navy. Lafayette is 37-28 in home league contests since the establishment of the Patriot League 10 years ago and is 4-6 in its second league game of the season. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League:
Army ........ 20-7 Holy Cross .... 5-21 Bucknell ... 29-16 Lehigh ........... 36-18 Colgate ...... 25-10 Navy .............. 13-20
FABULOUS FRESHMAN: Colleen Fitzpatrick, a 5-11 forward from Springfield, Pa., has become an integral part of the Lafayette program in just the first 14 games of the season. The frosh has started six games for the Leopards and is second on the team in rebounding with 5.6 per game, including a team- and career-high 11-board performance against the Mountain Hawks on Wednesday. Her rebounding average places her in the league's top 15 in the category. The biology major is also third on the team in scoring with an average of 7.2 points in 25.4 minutes of action per contest.
THE BAYER NECESSITIES: Sophomore center Jennifer Bayer has established herself as one of the most consistent performers in the Patriot League this season, averaging 14.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest. She is currently third in the league in rebounding and she leads the league in field goal percentage with a .568 average. The Lowell, Ind., native is second in offensive rebounding and fifth on the defensive glass, making her a power to be reckoned with on both ends of the court.
ROCHA'S REIGN: Senior Christel Rocha has made a successful comeback as the Leopards' floor general this season after taking a year off from the squad. The 1997-98 Patriot League Rookie of the Year is averaging 9.9 points in 28.9 minutes per game and is fourth in the league in assists with 3.71 per contest. Rocha is also 10th in the league in field goal percentage (.760), 13th in steals (1.64) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (0.80).
DOMINATING DEFENSE: Lafayette is currently leading the league in rebounding defense, holding its opponents to 34.0 boards per contest. Helping the cause is Jennifer Bayer's 8.6 per game average and Colleen Fitzpatrick's 5.6 mark. The Leopards are currently third in offense rebounds with 14.29 per game and fourth in the league in rebounding offense, averaging 38.4 per game.
THE BUCKNELL BISON: Bucknell comes to College Hill with an overall record of 10-3 and a league mark of 1-0 on the season. The Bison opened their Patriot League slate with a 60-57 win at Navy on Wednesday, led by Molly Creamer's 24 points and Patriot League Co-Preseason Player of the Year Vicki Quimby's seven rebounds. Creamer leads the Patriot League in scoring this season with 20.4 points per game to go along with a 5.1 rebounding average, while four-time Rookie of the Week selection Desire Almind averages 17.8 points (second in the league) and 5.8 boards per contest. Quimby is also averaging double-digits in scoring (15.7 ppg) while leading the team and the league on the glass this season with 8.8 boards per game.
The Bison are currently 4-2 on the road this season, losing at Cornell and Villanova in their tournaments, while boasting an unbeaten home record of 5-0 (against American, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Harvard, Cleveland State and Cornell). The squad is averaging league bests in points per game (75.1) and three-point percentage (.357).
Bucknell has historically been unsuccessful at knocking off Lafayette when the teams face off at Kirby as the Bison have an all-time record of just 4-15 on the Leopards' home court.
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 of 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 Bucknell.
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 basketball program 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 a perfect 100 percent.
LAFAYETTE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM: The Lafayette College women's basketball team will see at least 12 contests hit the television airwaves 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 tip-off while coverage of the Patriot League tournament will also be accessible to the listening public. All of the Leopards' radio broadcasts will be available live on the web at www.lafayette.edu.
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 receive 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.
