Jan. 22, 2004

LAFAYETTE VS. LEHIGH Tuesday's contest will be the 60th meeting between the Leopards and the Mountain Hawks. Lafayette leads the series 37-22, after the two teams split wins last season. Lehigh was victorious in the first meeting of 2002-03, defeating the Leopards 70-43 in Bethlehem on Jan. 24, 2003. Lafayette claimed the second win, held in Easton on Feb. 21, 2003. The Leopards won, 72-71 on a basket by Colleen Fitzpatrick with 0.1 second remaining on the clock.

THE STORYLINE Starting with Friday's contest against Lehigh, Lafayette has only Patriot League play remaining on the schedule. Lafayette enters the game 0-16, 0-3 in Patriot League play after falling to Holy Cross 71-65 on Jan. 17 and Penn 84-63 on Jan. 20 in the Leopard's final non-conference match up of the season. Lehigh is 6-10 overall and 3-0 in league play after defeating Navy (71-61), Bucknell (69-58) and American (69-55).

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 is out indefinately with an ankle sprain. 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 will be replaced by junior Naida Dupovac due to illness .

SCOUTING LEHIGH Lehigh is 6-10 overall, and is currently leading the Patriot League with a 3-0 conference record. The Mountain Hawks defeated Navy 71-61 on Jan. 10, Bucknell 69-58 on Jan. 14 and American 69-55 on Jan 17 before falling to Brown 78-73 in non-conference action on Jan. 20. The Mountain Hawks are led by Jessica DePalo who is averaging 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest. DePalo was named the Patriot League's Player of the Week for Jan. 21 after leading Lehigh to its wins over Bucknell and American. Dawn Gorynski is averaging 8.3 points per game while Jana Ransom is chipping in 7.8 points per contest. Lehigh is coached by Sue Troyan, now in her ninth season with the Mountain Hawks. Troyan has established a 108-118 record in her eight seasons as a head coach in Bethlehem.

COMING UP The Leopards return home to take on Patriot League archrival Lehigh on Jan. 23 at Kirby Sports Center. Lafayette will then host another Patriot League foe as the Bucknell Bison visit Easton on Jan. 25th as a part of a double header with the men's squad. The Leopards will then hit the road for a four game stretch, visiting American (Jan. 30), Navy (Feb. 1), Colgate (Feb. 7) and Army (Feb. 10).

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 6th on the career points charts (1,244), is ninth on the rebounds charts (590) 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.  Colleen Fitzpatrick '04   1,2447.  Laurie King '90     1,2118.  Theresa O'Connell '90   1,1899.  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.  Colleen Fitzpatrick '04   59010. Stacy Farrow '92    58511. 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 96.1 percent accuracy. In her two seasons as a Leopard, Rothweiler has missed only two free throws, racking up a shooting percentage of 96 percent. As a freshman, the guard went 24-of-25 from the line. In 2003-04, Rothweiler has gone 25-of-26, 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 -Ashley MacLelland (Jr., F)- 3-4 weeks, Stress Fracture -Kara Stetler (Fr., G)-Out, Ankle Sprain

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        15.4 ppg21. Ashley MacLelland       8.2 ppg22. Kristin Doherty       8.2 ppg30. Kara Stetler     6.8 ppg
REBOUNDING7. Brianne Welte        6.6 rpg9. Colleen Fitzpatrick        6.3 rpg24. Ashley MacLelland       3.9 rpg
3PT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE12. Kara Stetler     .296
3PT FIELD GOALS MADE13. Kara Stetler     1.14/game
BLOCKS5t. Brianne Welte       1.00/game15. Shannon Dorsey     0.38/game
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE1. Colleen Fitzpatrick        .8537. Kristin Doherty        .773

MAKING THE SHOTS COUNT With Colleen Fitzpatrick leading the league in free throw percentage and Kristin Doherty sitting seventh on the chart with a 77.3 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 264-of-353 for 74.8 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.