Jan. 13, 2004
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LAFAYETTE VS. ARMY Tuesday's contest marks the 34th meeting between the Leopards and the Black Knights. Lafayette leads the series with a 21-12 margin. However, Army took both games last season, winning on Jan. 14, 2003 89-54 at West Point and then defeating the Leopards in Easton, 70-52, on Feb. 2, 2003.
THE STORYLINE Lafayette continues with its final game of a four game homestand with a league match up against Army. Lafayette is 0-12 overall, 0-1 in league play after falling 80-74 to Colgate in the Patriot League opener. Army is 8-5, 0-1 in the league after losing to Holy Cross in their first conference match up.
THE STARTING FIVE Head Coach Tammy Smith has senior Colleen Fitzpatrick back in the lineup after returning from a bruised thigh suffered against Princeton. Freshman Kara Stetler continues to lead the floor at the point. Returning to the floor for the Leopards is junior Lindsay Myers at guard. In her first start of the season against Colgate, Myers scored 11 points and recorded three assists and two steals. Also making an appearance in the starting five is senior Elecia Kruise, coming off a career high 14 point performance against Colgate. Junior tri-captain Brianne Welte continues to provide much needed stability to the starting five at the center position.
SCOUTING ARMY Army is 8-5 overall, 0-1 in the Patriot League after dropping its league opener to Holy Cross, 66-58 on Jan. 10. The Black Knights are led by senior Katie Macfarlane, who is averaging 17.9 points per game along with 9.4 rebounds per contest. Macfarlane, who was the Patriot League preseason Player of the Year, is currently ranked in the top five all-time in the Patriot League inscoring (1,654) and rebounding (987). Junior Shavonne Holden is the only other player averaging double digit scoring for the Black Knights, with 10.6 points per game. Senior co-captain Haley Edwards is averaging 8.2 points per game and is leading the team in assists with 4.3 helpers per contest. Army is coached by Sherri Abbey-Nowatzki, now in her sixth season at the helm of the Black Knights program. Prior to arriving at West Point, Abbey-Nowatzki was a head coach at D'Youville and Keuka as well as the top assistant at Navy for three seasons.
COMING UP Tuesday's matchup with Army is the last of a four game home series for the Leopards. Lafayette hosted Quinnipiac on Jan. 5 in Kirby Sports Center and Yale on Jan. 7 before kicking off Patriot League play against Colgate on Jan. 10. Once the homestand ends with Army on Jan. 13, the Leopards will travel to Harvard on Jan. 15 to make up a postponed game from Dec. 3 before continuing on the league schedule with a contest at Holy Cross on Jan. 17.
TRI-CAPTAINS Seniors Colleen Fitzpatrick and Elecia Kruise and junior Brianne Welte will serve as tri-captains this season. Fitzpatrick and Kruise both repeat as captains after serving as tri-captains with the graduated Liz Rojahn last season.
SHARP SHOOTER Colleen Fitzpatrick led the Patriot League in field goal percentage (58.2) for the third consecutive year in 2002-03. She also finished the regular season ranked 13th in the nation in field goal percentage. Currently, Fitzpatrick sits atop the league field goal percentage chart for the fourth straight year, with a 67.9 accuracy.
THE PATRIOT LEAGUE Lafayette was chosen to finish eighth this season in the Patriot League Pre-Season Poll. Holy Cross was picked to finish first in the regular season for the eighth straight season. Army's Katie Macfarlane was chosen as the pre-season player of the year.
FROM THE HEART The Leopards welcome Kasey Keenan to the bench this season. Kasey, a fourth grader from Belvidere, N.J. is a huge supporter and fan of Lafayette basketball. She has attended summer basketball camps at Lafayette and has become a close friend of the team. Kasey was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment with a very positive prognosis. The team has named Kasey a Junior Captain for the 2003-04 season, and she will be sitting on the bench with the team at all of the home games.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS As a senior, Colleen Fitztpatrick continues to climb the charts in the Lafayette history books. Fitzpatrick currently resides 8th on the career points charts (1,178), is 10th on the rebounds (562) charts and holds the fourth highest single-season points total (460) in Lafayette women's basketball history. Fitzpatrick was only the 13th Leopard to reach the 1,000 point plateau. The 5-11 forward moved into the top 10 on Lafayette's rebounding charts after pulling down 11 boards in the Denver Tournament. Fitzpatrick also moved into the top 10 in scoring after tallying 46 total points against Denver (25) and Texas-Arlington (21).
Leopards in the Record Books
CAREER Points1. Maureen McManus '87 1,8132. Stacey Cagenello '87 1,5213. Tiffany Bedics '99 1,4674. Chris Sieling '94 1,3775. Terri Dadio '92 1,2836. Laurie King '90 1,2117. Theresa O'Connell '90 1,1898. Colleen Fitzpatrick 1,1789. Beth Mowins '89 1,15610. Dana Wolfe '85 1,09811. Nancy Lembo '88 1,07612. Maureen McKenna '83 1,074
Rebounds1. Alicia Yapsuga '99 8132. Dana Wolfe '85 7923. Maureen McManus '87 7834. Laurie King '90 7695. Chris Seiling '94 7276. Jen Bayer '03 6737. Theresa O'Connell '90 6148. Keri Hollister '98 6029. Stacy Farrow '92 58510. Colleen Fitzpatrick '04 56211. Mary Prokpus '86 53612. Stacy Cagnello '87 518
SINGLE SEASONPoints1. Maureen McManus '87 626 '86-872. Maureen McManus '87 508 '85-863. Chris Sieling '94 480 '93-944. Colleen Fitzpatrick '04 460 '02-035. Terri Dadio '92 442 '91-926. Chris Sieling '94 436 '92-937. Beth Mowins '89 423 '88-898. Maureen McManus '87 406 '84-859. Stacey Cagenello '87 390 '85-8610. Alicia Yapsuga '99 394 '96-97
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIR The 2003-04 women's basketball team has three players from foreign countries on the roster this season. Junior transfer Naida Dupovac hails from Sarajevo, Bosnia and comes to College Hill after two years at the junior college level. Freshman Joanna Pekonen is originally from Lapeenranta, Finland and played in a Finnish women's league since 2000. Another freshman, Michelle Hunter, comes to Lafayette from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, where she was a four-year MVP for Hillfield Strathallan.
HIGH ALTITUDE Transfer Naida Dupovac and freshman Joanna Pekonen have added some much needed height to the Leopard frontcourt this season. Standing 6-4, Dupovac will look to see time at the forward position along with the 6-3 Pekonen.
FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE Sophomore Brittney Rothweiler leads the team in free throw shooting, with an impressive 95.2 percent accuracy. In her two seasons as a Leopard, Rothweiler has missed only two free throws, racking up a shooting percentage of 95.7 percent. As a freshman, the guard went 24-of-25 from the line. In 2003-04, Rothweiler has gone 20-of-21, including a career high 8-for-8 performance at Wagner on Dec. 3.
PATRIOT LEAGUE LEADER Colleen Fitzpatrick, who is shooting 84.6 percent from the charity stripe on 44-of-52, is leading the Patriot League in free throw percentage. For the fourth year in a row, Fitzpatrick also leads the Patriot League in shooting percentage. The forward is currently shooting 66.2 percent from the field for the Leopards.
LEOPARD ATHLETICS ON THE WEB The quickest and most comprehensive source for information on Lafayette athletics is the world wide web. Go to www.lafayette.edu and click on "Sports." The athletics site is continuously updated with gameday press releases, schedules and results, rosters, statistics, player features, photos and more.
INJURY REPORT -Katie Kokolus (So., G) - Out for the season, ACL
HEAD OF THE CLASS Freshman Kara Stetler has been making an impact for the Leopards since she arrived on College Hill. Stetler, a native of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is the only Pennsylvania native in the 2003-04 freshman class. Stetler is the only freshman in the starting five, and has started all twelve of the Leopards' contests. Currently averaging 7.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, Stetler is also leading the team with 2.6 assists per contest.
PATRIOT LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL STATS
SCORING7. Colleen Fitzpatrick 14.9 ppg19. Ashley MacLelland 8.9 ppg26. Kristin Doherty 8.0 ppg29. Kara Stetler 7.2 ppg
REBOUNDING7. Brianne Welte 6.6 rpg9. Colleen Fitzpatrick 6.0 rpg24. Ashley MacLelland 4.1 rpg
3PT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE10. Kara Stetler .319
3PT FIELD GOALS MADE13. Kara Stetler 1.25/game15. Ashley MacLelland 0.92/game
BLOCKS6. Brianne Welte 0.92/game11. Shannon Dorsey 0.56/game
ASSISTS13. Kara Stetler 2.58/game
MAKING THE SHOTS COUNT With Colleen Fitzpatrick leading the league in free throw percentage and Kristin Doherty sitting sixth on the chart with a 77.4 percent free throw shooting percentage, it comes as no surprise finding the Leopards sitting at the top of the team free throw percentage charts. The team has shot 198-of-268 for 73.9 percent accuracy.
THE FUTURE IS NOW With only two seniors on the 2003-04 squad, the Lafayette team is a wealth of youth, including four freshman brought in by head coach Tammy Smith's second recruiting class. With four juniors, five sophomores and the class of 2007, the young Leopards will be gaining experience to build the future of Lafayette basketball. Leading the freshman class is Mechanicsburg, Pa. native Kara Stetler. Stetler is the only freshman starter, at the point guard position. Fellow guard Meghan Austin of Lynchburg, Va. will also be competing for time at the point. Forwards Joanna Pekonen of Finland and Michelle Hunter of Ontario, Canada also will be battling for time under the basket.
ON THE SIDELINE Head coach Tammy Smith (East Stroudsburg '82) returns for her third year at the helm of the women's basketball program. Bringing a second class of recruits to College Hill for the 2003-04 season, Smith is continuing her vision of progress for the Leopards, and is hoping to improve on last season's 3-25 finish. Assistant coaches LaRonda Murphy, Shelby Kealy and Ron Hoffman all return to the sidelines for the 2003-04 season aboard Smith's staff.
