Nov. 20, 2007

Box Score

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Despite 15 points from both senior Vanessa Van De Venter and junior Cristin Zavocki, the Lafayette women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 65-62 contest to Columbia on Tuesday night in New York City. The Leopards scored 62 points, their second-highest total of the season, but could not overcome a Columbia team that shot 45 percent from the field and pulled down 39 rebounds.

For the second game in a row Lafayette was part of a contest that featured double-digit lead changes, as Columbia and the Leopards saw the lead change hands 13 times. Lafayette had a chance to tie the game and send it into overtime, but Zavocki could not get off a three-point attempt before the time expired.

In the opening half, Lafayette jumped out to a 10-7 lead before Columbia tied the game 12 with 13:03 on the clock. Three minutes later, junior Jessica Spicer fed classmate Meaghan Malone under the basket for a layup to cut the lead to two (17-15). One minute later, Spicer drained a three-pointer and a Zavocki jumper at 8:19 gave the Leopards their first lead of the game at 20-19.

Columbia went on to regain the lead but Spicer made two free throws to tie the game at 32 and a Zavocki layup gave Lafayette a 36-34 lead with just over a minute on the clock. Columbia's Meghan Harker would score the final points of the half on two made free throws and the teams headed into halftime knotted at 36.

The Leopards opened the second half by scoring three-straight points to take a 39-36 advantage. Columbia would retake the lead at 49-48, however, after a free throw by Cate Taylor with 8:46 on the clock.

With just under two minutes to play, Spicer stole the ball from Columbia and fed it to Zavocki who made the layup to cut the Lions' lead back to one (59-58). Junior Emily Garner's layup brought the Leopards within two at 64-62 but two made free throws by Danielle Browne built the Lions' lead back to three.

Zavocki had Lafayette's last chance to tie the game and force overtime but she failed to get off her three-point attempt before time expired as Lafayette suffered its third-straight loss.

The Leopards will play their second-straight Ivy League opponent when they travel to Princeton on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game.

Lafayette notes:
* Junior Meaghan Malone earned her first start of the season
* The 36 first half points were the most scored in any half for the Leopards this season.
* Junior Cristin Zavocki had double-digits in the first half and finished with a season-best 15 points, just two points shy of her career-high of 17.
* Senior Vanessa Van De Venter entered game with 960 career points and with her 15 against the Lions now needs jus 25 more to become Lafayette's 14th 1,000 point scorer.
* Junior Emily Garner saw her first minutes of the season after suffering an ankle injury prior to the start of the 2007-08 campaign.
* All three of Lafayette's losses this season have been by single digits.