Jan. 28, 2006
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. (www.lafayette.edu) - American outrebounded Lafayette 47-28, including 22 on the offensive end, and Pam Stanfield's game-winning bucket with 8.6 seconds left came on a second-chance opportunity as the Eagles scratched out a 75-74 win in Patriot League women's basketball on Saturday afternoon at Bender Arena.
Kara Stetler scored a career-high 26 points and hit six three-pointers to tie the school record for the third time this season to lead Lafayette (6-13, 1-5 PL). She had 11 of the Leopards' first 15 points, and her second triple of the day, 4:55 into the contest, broke her own school record for three-pointers made in a single season with 42.
Lafayette led by as many as eight points early in the first half, but American (5-15, 2-5 PL) rallied and led 38-35 at intermission. Both teams shot 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes, and Stetler was 5-for-5 from three-point range and had 17 points at the break.
Tala Hadavi did the damage for AU in the first half, netting 13 points, while Sahar Nusseibeh scored 13 in the second. The freshman finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 10-of-13 from the floor.
American pushed its halftime margin to 42-35 moments into the second half before Lafayette came back with the next seven points to tie the game on a layup by Myers. While there were four lead changes and five ties in the next seven minutes, AU's 50-48 advantage with 13:27 left was its last lead until the final seconds.
Lafayette scored seven straight points over a stretch of 3:02 and held its largest margin of the second half, 67-60, with 6:16 to play. American chipped away and a layup by Nusseibeh at the four-minute mark pulled the Eagles within one. The Leopards responded with buckets by Stetler and Van De Venter to take a 74-69 lead with 2:01 on the clock.
An offensive rebound and putback by Nusseibeh narrowed the margin to three, and Stanfield hit a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left to make the score 74-73. AU forced a shot clock violation on Lafayette's offensive possession. Following a timeout, the Eagles got a good look for Hadavi, but her shot was off and Nusseibeh pulled in the rebound. The Leopards knocked the ball away but into the hands of Stanfield, who put up a five-footer in the lane to give American the lead with 8.6 seconds left.
Lafayette advanced the ball to midcourt and called timeout. On the inbounds play, Kristin Doherty drove the right baseline and drew contact, but the official whistled a double dribble to effectively end the contest. Doherty went on to score 18 points in Lafayette's 73-66 Senior Day win over American.
Lindsay Myers had 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Doherty and Van De Venter scored nine each. Lafayette shot 47 percent from the floor, led by a 9-for-10 performance (6-of-7 from three) by Stetler, and turned the ball over seven fewer times than AU (21-14) in defeat.
Hadavi finished with 19 points and Tara Williams scored 15 for American.
Lafayette will finish the first half of Patriot League play at Bucknell on Wednesday, Feb. 1 before beginning the stretch run at home with Holy Cross next Saturday.
