Jan. 7, 2004
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LAFAYETTE VS. YALE Wednesday's contest is the 16th meeting between the Leopards and the Bulldogs. Yale leads the series 10-5 after their 74-49 victory over Lafayette on Nov. 30 2002 in New Haven. Lafayette is 0-10 after falling to Quinnipiac 78-62 on Jan. 5. Yale is 1-9 after claiming its first win of the season over Syracuse 70-54, also on Jan. 5.
THE STORYLINE Lafayette continues its current four game homestand hosting Yale in Kirby Sports Center. Only Yale stands between the Leopards and the start of their Patriot League schedule, beginning with Colgate on Friday, Jan. 10. Yale has been on the road for two games, finishing up with Lafayette before heading home to take on George Washington on Jan. 12.
THE STARTING FIVE Head Coach Tammy Smith has had to do a bit of reshuffling of her starting five due to an injury to Colleen Fitzpatrick suffered against Princeton. Look for sophomores Shannon Dorsey and Tricia Indoe to battle for the starting forward position. Freshman Kara Stetler continues to lead the floor at the point while sophomore Kristin Doherty took over the two guard position after Katie Kokolus was sidelined with a knee injury. Juniors Ashley MacLelland and Brianne Welte continue to provide much needed stability to the starting five and the forward and center positions.
SCOUTING YALE Yale is 1-9 on the season entering Wednesday's contest after winning their first game of the season against Syracuse, 70-54, on Monday, Jan. 5. Two of Yale's losses this season came to teams Lafayette also faced earlier in 2003-04. In their season opener, the Bulldogs fell to Quinnipiac 67-63. Yale was also defeated by Sacred Heart, 79-68, who the Leopards fell to on Nov. 25, 92-59. The Bulldogs are lead by Christina Phillips, who is averaging 10.7 points per game. Erica Davis is also leading Yale, averaging 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Yale is coached by Amy Backus, now in her fifth year at the helm of the Bulldog program. Prior to coaching at Yale, Backus was the head coach at Middlebury College in Vermont and Otterbein College in Ohio. As a head coach, Backus has a 200-165 record.
COMING UP Wednesday's matchup with Yale is the second of a four game home series for the Leopards. After taking on Quinnipiac on Jan. 5 in Kirby Sports Center, Lafayette hosts Yale on Jan. 7 before kicking off Patriot League play against Colgate (Jan. 10) and Army (Jan. 13). The Leopards will then 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.
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.
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.
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 With her entire senior season left, Colleen Fitztpatrick continues to climb the charts in the Lafayette history books. Fitzpatrick currently resides 9th on the career points charts (1,153), is 10th on the rebounds (554) 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 1,7898. Beth Mowins '89 1,1569. Colleen Fitzpatrick '04 1,15310. 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 55411. 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. Incoming 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 will add 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 94 percent accuracy. In her two seasons as a Leopard, Rothweiler has missed only two free throws, racking up a shooting percentage of 95 percent. As a freshman, the guard went 24-of-25 from the line and in the first seven games of the 2003-04 season has gone 17-of-18, including an 8-for-8 performance at Wagner on Dec. 3.
PATRIOT LEAGUE LEADERS Brittney Rothweiler is also leading the league in free throw percentage, just ahead of teammate Colleen Fitzpatrick, who is shooting 84 percent from the charity stripe on 37-of-44. For the fourth year in a row, Fitzpatrick leads the Patriot League in shooting percentage. The forward is currently shooting 67.9 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, ACL -Colleen Fitzpatrick (Sr., F)-Probable, Bruised Thigh
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. In her first three games as a Leopard, Stetler was a member of the starting line up and is currently averaging 6 points and 3.3 rebounds a game. Versus St. Peter's on Nov. 29, Stetler scored a career high 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and two steals.
PATRIOT LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL STATS
SCORING7. Colleen Fitzpatrick 15.6 ppg18. Ashley MacLelland 10.1 ppg26. Kristin Doherty 7.6 ppg30. Kara Stetler 7.0 ppg
REBOUNDING6. Brianne Welte 7.3 rpg8. Colleen Fitzpatrick 6.6. rpg19. Ashley MacLelland 4.6 rpg
3PT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE4. Kara Stetler .361
3PT FIELD GOALS MADE7. Kara Stetler 1.44/game14. Ashley MacLelland 1.00/game
BLOCKS6. Brianne Welte 1.00/game
ASSISTS15. Kara Stetler 2.44/game
MAKING THE SHOTS COUNT With Brittney Rothweiler and Colleen Fitzpatrick leading the league in free throw percentage, it comes as no surprise finding the Leopards sitting at the top of the team free throw percentage charts. The team has shot 142-of-196 for 72.4 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 projected 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.
LEOPARDS ONLINE Juniors Brianne Welte and Ashley MacLelland will chronicle their third season of Lafayette basketball on www.goleopards.com with the 2003-04 installment of their weekly journal. Welte and MacLelland will run down the season and give insight into the life of a student-athlete. In their first entry, the teammates discuss preseason and their motivation to win.
