Dec. 23, 2006
Box Score
STOCKTON, Calif. - Sophomore guard Jessica Spicer led three Lafayette players in double figures, including a double-double from Emily Garner, but Leopards' hopes for an early holiday present were dashed at the hands of a scrappy Pacific club, 72-63, on Friday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Playing its second game in three days in the Golden State, but the Leopards' (2-9) gutsy effort could not overcome the Tigers' (6-6) second half surge to pull of the upset.
A back-and-forth contest all night long, the Tigers rode the hot hand of junior guard Kelsey Lavender midway through the second half to pull ahead of the Leopards 56-47 at the 8:10 mark following four-minute, 13-4 Pacific run, which broke open a 43-43 tie. Lavender tallied eight of the Tigers' 13 points during the span.
Both teams enjoyed timely runs throughout the game, but Lafayette's luck ran out despite scoring three quick buckets, including a buzzer-beating three from Spicer, in the final 30 seconds. Pacific hit 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
It was Lafayette opening the game with hot shooting, as Spicer surrounded a pair of jumpers around a Vanessa Van De Venter trey from the top of the key, allowing the Leopards to open a quick 7-2 lead just 16:36 into the contest. Lafayette continued to battle on both ends of the floor and another Spicer three from the right baseline pushed the Leopard lead to 12-4 at the 14:17 mark.
Pacific's cold shooting didn't last much longer, as the Tigers rode a 20-3 run from that point to establish a 24-15 lead with three and a half minutes to play. However, a feisty Leopard club held the Tigers without a basket over the final 3:24 and scored the final 10 points of the half, swinging a 25-24 score Lafayette's way heading into the locker room. Garner scored six points, including a pretty feed from classmate Cristin Zavocki, in the final minute.
Lafayette shot 34 percent (21-of-62) from the floor, led by Spicer's 17 points. In addition to leading the team in scoring for the second straight game, Spicer added six boards, four assists and four steals to the box score. Garner posted her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Van De Venter finished with 11 points and five boards.
Lavender led all scorers with a career-high 26 points for the Tigers, including 23 in the second half.
Lafayette will break for the holiday and hope to regroup when the team hosts NJIT at Kirby Sports Center on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
Game Notes:
-Freshman guard Danielle Jenkins' intensity on both ends of the floor prompted head coach Tammy Smith to start the Shirley, N.Y. native in the second half. She played a career-high 22 minutes and finished the game with a career-high eight points and three boards.
-Junior guard Maureen Johnson earned her first start since Jan. 10, 2005 against Penn in Easton, Pa. She contributed six points and four boards against the Quakers that night.
-Spicer has led the Leopards in scoring in three of the last four games and is averaging 14.5 points a game in that span.
-This was the first meeting between Lafayette and Pacific.
