Feb. 23, 2001
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Game 27: vs. Colgate * Senior Day *
Feb. 24, 2001 * A.p. Kirby Sports Center (3,500) * 12:00 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Colgate's trip to College Hill this season is its 37th contest against the Leopards. Lafayette leads the all-time series 26-10, dating back to the first meeting with the Red Raiders on Dec. 4, 1976, a 55-48 Leopard victory in Hamilton, N.Y.
LAST MEETING: Jennifer Bayer and Colleen Fitzpatrick both recorded double-doubles to help Lafayette come up with a big road win over Colgate, 76-49, on Jan. 31. Bayer scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Fitzpatrick tallied 14 points and 10 boards. Teammate Samaiyah Council chipped in 13 points for the Leopards.
NEXT UP: Lafayette heads to Annapolis, Md., for the Patriot League Tournament March 2-3. The team's seeding depends on the outcome of its game vs. Colgate and the outcomes of the Lehigh-Navy and Holy Cross-Army games on Saturday.
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 295-282 mark (.511) 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 Valerie Davis (Kutztown '83).
Ron Rohn (Fordham '82) is in his sixth season as the head coach at Colgate. He led the program to an overall mark of 13-16 last season and a 6-6 finish in the Patriot League. Rohn carries an eight-year head coaching record of 75-133 and is helped on the Red Raiders' bench by assistant coaches Beth Spycher (Illinois '91) and Liesl Shultz (Butler '95).
LAFAYETTE VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has amassed a record of 131-99 over the current members of the Patriot League, boasting a winning percentage of .570 in the 230 conference games. The Leopards hold a winning advantage in each all-time series against league opponents except current three-time defending Patriot League champion Holy Cross and Navy. Lafayette is 39-31 in league contests at home since the establishment of the Patriot League 10 years ago and is 7-3 in its final Patriot League regular season game. Lafayette vs. the Patriot League:
Army ........ 21-8 Holy Cross .... 5-23 Bucknell ... 29-18 Lehigh ........... 36-19 Colgate ...... 26-10 Navy .............. 14-21
THE COLGATE RED RAIDERS:The Red Raiders come to College Hill today fresh off a 65-63 home win over Navy on Wednesday. Colgate is currently 2-9 in the Patriot League and 5-21 overall on the season. Today is the last day of regular season Patriot League action and the Red Raiders' seeding in the conference tournament will be determined by the outcome of their game at Lafayette.
Leading the squad in scoring and rebounding this season is sophomore forward and two-time league player of the week Colleen McCaffrey who averages 14.6 points and 7.9 boards per game.
THE RAIDERS AT KIRBY: Colgate has had a tough time winning in the Kirby Center, carrying a record of 4-8 on the Leopards' home court. The Red Raiders first visit to College Hill resulted in a 76-62 Lafayette victory on Feb. 20, 1984. The squad is also 2-12 on the road this season while Lafayette is 5-6 at home. What's more, the Leopards are 3-1 in their final regular season league games on the Kirby Center floor.
IF THE TOURNEY BEGAN TODAY: If the Patriot League Tournament were to begin today, Lafayette would be the No. 6 seed and would face No. 3 seed Lehigh in the first round. The Leopards have faced their rival Mountain Hawks in the first round of the past two conference tournaments and have upset the team from neighboring Bethlehem, Pa., both times. The No. 2 seed, Bucknell, would face No. 7 Colgate while No. 4 seed Army would meet No. 5 seed Navy. Holy Cross has already secured the No. 1 seed and the accompanying first round bye.
SHE'S BAAAACCKKKK...Elizabeth Rojahn, Lafayette's second-leading scorer last season, was able to suit up for the first time this season on Jan. 24 when the Leopards hosted Holy Cross. The 5-10 forward scored two points in her first game back and added six points in the Lafayette win over Army on Jan. 27, both coming off the bench. A serious shooting threat, the York, Pa., native was 4-of-5 from the floor for eight points on Feb. 11 vs. Navy and was 3-of-4 for 6 points on Feb. 17 at Holy Cross.
Rojahn started all of the Leopards' 29 contests last season, averaging 11.3 points and 3.9 rebounds as a freshman. She was unable to play in the first 17 games this season due to two herniated discs in her lower back during preseason that were not responding to treatment.
SO-LONG SENIORS: As Lafayette takes on Colgate in its last regular season home game, the Leopards prepare to lose two of its own to graduation this spring. In honor and appreciation of seniors Christel Rocha and Heather Morgan, Saturday will be celebrated as Senior Day.
ROCHA'S REIGN: Rocha has been an integral member of the squad this season after taking off the 1999-2000 season for personal reasons, averaging 10.2 points, 1.81 steals and 2.81 assists per game. The 5-7 guard from Lansing, Mich., was the 1997 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and came out this season to garner All-Tournament honors in Lafayette's first two games of the season at the Howard Bank Classic (Burlington, Vt.).
MORGAN'S MYSTIQUE: A walk-on for Lafayette last season, Heather Morgan has provided a constant relief off the bench and has contributed on both ends of the court. Also a member of the Lafayette softball team, Morgan is a silent steady presence in the low blocks who gives all she has when called upon by Coach Fisher.
THE BOARD GAME, ETC.: Lafayette is leading the league in rebounding defense this season, holding its opponents to just 34.8 boards per game. The Leopards trail Bucknell in rebounding margin, grabbing 1.6 more rebounds than their opponents. The squad is third in the Patriot League in offensive rebounds with 13.27 per game. Helping Lafayette earn respect on the boards is Jennifer Bayer's 7.7 per game average and Colleen Fitzpatrick's 5.7 mark. Lafayette has also picked up its defense as of late, as it is second in three-point percentage defense (.327) and fourth in steals with 9.0 per game.
THE FABULOUS FROSH: A two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week selection this season, Colleen Fitzpatrick is being recognized as one of the most dangerous weapons in the Lafayette arsenal this season and for good reason. The Springfield, Pa., native recorded two double-doubles this season, at Colgate on Jan. 31, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, and vs. Holy Cross on Jan. 24, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 boards.
Fitzpatrick was the high scorer in the Leopards' loss at Lehigh on Feb. 3, netting a career-high 22 points and the freshman is third on the team in scoring with 9.0 ppg and second in rebounding (5.7 rpg). She leads the league in field goal percentage with an average of .553 and is ninth in offensive rebounds with 2.27 per game.
DOUBLING DOWN: Lafayette had two players record double-doubles in the win at Colgate on Jan. 31 as sophomore Jennifer Bayer had 15 points and 11 rebounds and freshman Colleen Fitzpatrick, who was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Jan. 29, added 14 points and 10 boards. The last time that two Leopards recorded a double-double in the same game was on Feb. 3, 1998, when Keri Hollister '98 had 14 points and 10 rebounds and teammate Alicia Yapsuga '99 had 18 points and 14 rebounds in Lafayette's 62-61 win over Central Connecticut State at Kirby Sports Center. season.
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.
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 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.
