Jan. 27, 2007

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette held American to just two field goals in the first 20 minutes and rolled to a 62-50 Patriot League women's basketball win on Saturday evening at Kirby Sports Center. Senior guard Kara Stetler led the Leopards for the second straight game, pouring in 17 points to go with five boards and a pair of assists to give Lafayette its third conference win.

After Nicole Ryan's layin less than a minute into the action, American (9-13, 4-3) went stone cold, enduring a 17:28 drought without a field goal. The Eagles converted all six of its free throws during that span, but still trailed Lafayette (5-17, 3-4) by a 24-8 margin with 3:46 left before the break.

Stetler's wide-open triple from the left wing capped a 22-10 Lafayette run until that point. The team's lone senior buried her first three of the game just two possessions earlier, sandwiching a layin from sophomore guard Cristin Zavocki with the shot clock winding down. Lafayette led 24-10 at intermission.

Easton, Pa. native Liz Hayes provided American with a spark coming out of the break, as the junior transfer hit back-to-back triples and a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to 28-20 just 4:21 into the half.

Less than a minute later, the Eagles cut the lead to six (28-22), but Lafayette rode a 13-6 run to push the lead back to 15 (43-28) on a layin from junior forward Vanessa Van De Venter with 10:41 on the clock.

The Leopards were able to keep the Eagles at arm's length the rest of the way, despite a late American rally. A pair of Hayes free throws cut the lead to eight (51-43) with 4:20 remaining, but Zavocki banked in a clutch three-pointer to put the Leopards back up by 11 (54-43) with 2:34 to play. However, again the Eagles made a final push, slashing the deficit nearly in half (54-48) with five quick points from Hayes. A gutsy Leopard club went on to score eight of the final 10 points at the free throw line to seal the win.

Lafayette shot 43 percent (21-of-49) from the field, including a 55 percent (11-of-20) second-half effort. After shooting just 11 percent (2-of-18) in the first half, the Eagles finished the game at 25 percent (12-of-48) from the floor.

Stetler hit three of her four triples and all six free throws on the night, while Van De Venter and sophomore Jessica Spicer finished with 12 apiece. Van De Venter completed a solid all-around effort with six rebounds and a game-high four assists and three steals. Classmate Brittany Purr led all players with eight rebounds, helping Lafayette to a 38-30 advantage in the game.

Hayes led all scorers and tallied all of her 21 points in the second half.

Lafayette will take the next week to prepare for a trip to Worcester, Mass. to attempt a season sweep over Holy Cross at 1 p.m. The Leopards defeated the Crusaders, 61-58, on Jan. 6 in Easton, Pa.

Game Notes:

-Stetler's three triples moved her into 10th all-time on the Patriot League career three-point list with 160.
-With the win and an entire second half of Patriot League play to go, Lafayette already equaled its conference win mark in 2005-06 (3-11).
-Lafayette has now beaten American in its last two tries, as the Leopards defeated the Eagles on Senior Day (2/25) a year ago.
-The Leopards played without junior Val Gomez, who had started the previous eight games, due to a nagging knee injury.