Jan. 20, 2007
Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Vanessa Van De Venter and Emily Garner each had 17 points, as Lafayette raced to a 16-3 lead in the opening six-plus minutes of the game. However, the Leopards were unable to sustain their hot shooting as Lehigh erased the cushion and went on to claim a 62-50 victory in Patriot League women's basketball action on Saturday evening at Stabler Arena.
Van De Venter was responsible for half of the Leopards' points during the 16-3 spurt. The junior forward's kick-out to senior guard Kara Stetler for three put the Leopards comfortably in front with 13:36 on the clock.
Over the ensuing six minutes, the Mountain Hawks proceeded to score 15 of the next 17 points and a three-ball from Lehigh's (7-12, 2-3) Sara Ellis knotted the score at 18-all with 7:29 left in the half. Although Lehigh tied the game on two more occasions before the break, Lafayette (4-15, 2-3) never relinquished its lead and entered the locker room clinging to a 26-24 advantage.
Lafayette shook a pesky Lehigh club to start the second half, reestablishing an eight-point lead (36-28) on Garner's fifth good free throw of the stanza at the 14:16 mark. The Mountain Hawks scored the next nine points unanswered, as sophomore guard Ryan Ingalls drained a trio of three-pointers to give Lehigh its first lead of the day (37-36) with 11:40 to play.
That stretch proved to be the difference-maker for Lehigh, despite Lafayette cutting the lead to two (40-38) just 2:37 later. The Mountain Hawks led by as many as 14 (62-48) with 23 seconds remaining in the action.
Backed by a game-high nine boards from Lehigh senior Adrienne Blount, the Mountain Hawks out-did Lafayette in the rebounding column, 37-31. Lehigh out-rebounded Lafayette 21-12 after the break. Van De Venter and Garner led Lafayette with seven and six boards, respectively.
The Leopards shot 34 percent (15-of-44) from the floor and made 18-of-21 (86 percent) of their free throws. Garner (9-of-11) and Van De Venter (7-of-8) took all but two of the Leopards shots from the stripe. Lehigh shot 33 percent (17-of-51) on the day and hit five threes to the Leopards' two.
Lafayette returns to the Kirby Sports Center court, where the team is 2-0 in Patriot League play, for a showdown with Army on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Game Notes:
-Lafayette now holds a 37-30 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1974-75. The teams played for the 66th time on Saturday.
-Lafayette has now made 41 of its last 47 attempts from the free throw line (87 percent), which includes a 23-of-26 effort against Bucknell (1/16), over the last two games.
-Senior guard Kara Stetler had the Leopard's lone two three-pointers, as she opened the scoring with a triple to the right of the key just 39 seconds into the contest.
-Junior Vanessa Van De Venter has led or tied for the lead in scoring for the Leopards in the last two contests. She had 22 points in a 68-63 win over Bucknell four days ago.
-Sophomore Jessica Spicer, Lafayette's second leading scorer coming into the game, got in foul trouble early and finished with two points.
