Jan. 4, 2001
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Game 12: at Rider
Jan. 4, 2001 * Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) * 7:00 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: The Leopards' meeting with Rider this season will be the 27th matchup between the schools in the history of Lafayette women's basketball. Lafayette currently holds a 19-7 edge over the Broncs in the all-time series.
LAST MEETING: Lafayette shot 53 percent from the field for the game but could not overcome Rider's 65 percent shooting from behind the arc as the Broncs walked out of the A.P. Kirby Sports Center with a 97-74 win on Jan. 5, 2000. Jennifer Bayer finished the night with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
NEXT UP: Lafayette wraps up its four-game road swing with a visit to Albany on Jan. 6. The Leopards open Patriot League on Jan. 10 by hosting 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 291-270 mark (.519) 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).
The Rider program is headed up by 12-year coach Eldon Price (Penn State '61). Price has amassed a career record of 136-170 at the reigns of the Broncs' program and is backed by assistant coaches Sharon Gittens (Trenton State '91), Kelly Muir (Georgia Tech '99) and Jack Miller (N. Illinois '86).
TWO DOWN...TWO TO GO: Lafayette's game at Rider is its third consecutive road game amid a four-game away stint. The Leopards started their travels with a game at Maryland on Dec. 22 and hit the trail again on Jan. 2 as they played at George Mason. Lafayette wraps up its road trip with a game at Albany on Jan. 6 and heads back home to open Patriot League play on Jan. 10 by hosting conference rival Lehigh.
LAFAYETTE VS. THE MAAC: Lafayette enters its meeting with Rider carrying a 25-17 edge against schools in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Leopards' current 27-game series with Rider is by far the most played rivalry between Lafayette and any other MAAC opponent. Lafayette has faced only one other MAAC member this season, an 81-55 loss at Fairfield in the first round of the Warner's Classic on Nov. 24. The Leopards versus MAAC opponents: Canisius .............. 0-0 Loyola ................... 1-2 Niagara ............... 1-0 Fairfield .............. 0-3 Manhattan ............. 3-3 Rider .................... 19-7 Iona .................... 1-1 Marist .................... 0-0 St. Peter's ............ 0-1 Siena ...................... 0-0
PROWLING THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: As of the latest Patriot League statistics, released Jan. 3., several Leopards have found themselves among the league's elite performers this season. Sophomore center Jennifer Bayer is second in league rebounding with an 8.8 per game average while also ranking seventh in scoring with a mark of 13.6 per contest. Bayer also tops the league in field goal percentage, boasting an average of .560. After a year's hiatus from the team, senior point guard Christel Rocha has found her way back to elite league status. The Lansing, Mich., native is third in the league assists category, averaging 3.82 per contest, while pouring in 10.8 points per contest (11th in the league). Rocha is also tied for sixth in league free throw percentage (.795) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (0.89). Sophomore reserve guard Kim Costello has emerged as one of the premier three-point shooters in the league this season, ranking third in three-point field goal percentage (.405) and fourth in threes made (1.55/game).
THE RIDER BRONCS: Rider enters the contest against Lafayette with an overall record of 1-9 and a record of 1-2 in the MAAC. The Broncs' last contest was an 87-79 loss to Fairfield at Alumni Gym on Jan. 2. Junior Katie Kearon led the Rider scoring with 19 points while classmate Tanya Cross added 13 points and 11 boards in the conference loss. Kearon leads the program in scoring with a 14.5 ppg average while Cross is close behind with a 14.0 mark. Cross also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.9 per contest. Robin Stein is also scoring in double digits with an 11.7 ppg average.
BENCH RELIEF: Coach Fisher has been able to bring a loaded bench into each contest this season and has not been disappointed by her relievers thus far. Kim Costello has overcome a slew of injuries that hampered her last season to become a valuable backcourt weapon off the bench. The sophomore is averaging 6.4 points in 18.1 minutes per game this season. Freshman Colleen Fitzpatrick is also establishing a name for herself, whether it be as a starter or off the bench. The 5-11 forward is third on the team in scoring with a per game average of 6.7 and second in rebounding with 5.2 per contest.
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 Rider.
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 avalailable 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.
