Jan. 16, 2008

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EASTON, Pa. - Three Leopards scored in double figures to lead the Lafayette women's basketball team (9-8, 1-1) to a 57-52 Patriot League win over Colgate on Wednesday night. Juniors Jessica Spicer and Cristin Zavocki led the offense with 13 points apiece as the Leopards recorded their first league win of the season. Senior Vanessa Van De Venter finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Lafayette led by as many as 14 points in the second half but a scrappy Colgate team did not give in and closed within three with five seconds remaining in the game. Meaghan Malone was fouled with three seconds on the clock and her two free throws prevented the Raiders from completing a comeback as Lafayette held on for the victory.

Colgate got on the board first with a layup by Katie Garman. Those would be the only points scored by either team for the opening four minutes of the game before junior Emily Garner drained a jumper at the 15:55 mark to tie the game at two. A Van De Venter steal led to a LaKeisha Wright basket and a 6-4 Lafayette lead at the 14:06 mark. Sami Kozlowski briefly gave the lead back to Colgate before Zavocki's first triple tied the game at nine with 11:29 on the clock.

Zavocki's three sparked a run of three-straight Lafayette three-pointers. Freshman Elizabeth Virgin scored the team's second-straight trey to make the score 12-9 at 8:59. Spicer's basket from three-point range kept Lafayette in the lead (15-13) with less than five minutes to play. Zavocki then scored Lafayette's fourth three-pointer of the half to keep the lead at three (20-15) with 3:30 remaining. Spicer's second basket from beyond the arc gave the Leopards a 25-17 advantage they maintained heading into halftime.

Wright opened the second half with a basket to give the Leopards their first double-digit lead of the game (27-17). Lafayette held onto that double-digit lead (34-23) after another Wright score at 16:10. Colgate cut the lead to single digits (38-30) after a Katherine McGarry free throw with 13:18. Spicer made the score 40-30 at 12:58 before both teams hit a scoring slump with only one point scored over the next five minutes.

Van De Venter ended the drought with a basket at the 7:48 mark to give Lafayette a 42-31 edge. The lead increased to a game-high 14 points (51-37) after a Zavocki three at 4:50. Colgate then quickly cut the lead to single digits (53-45) after a Garman layup with 2:49 on the clock. With under a minute to play, Kozlowski drained a three to bring the Raiders within three (53-50). With the score 55-52 and three seconds on the clock, Malone grabbed an offensive rebound. Her two free throws upped the lead to five to prevent the Colgate comeback and secure the win.

The Leopards are back in action when they host Navy on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 1 p.m.

Postgame Notes:
- Tonight's win snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Raiders and also marked Lafayette's second-straight home-opening Patriot League victory (Lafayette posted a 61-58 win over Holy Cross last season.)
- With a 9-8 record, the Leopards have recorded the most wins ever under Tammy Smith with 12 games remaining in the regular season.
- With her 10 points in tonight's game, Vanessa Van De Venter now has 1,196 for her career to move into sole possession of eighth place on Lafayette's list of all-time leading scorers. She needs 15 more to tie Laurie King (1,211) for the number seven spot.
- Jessica Spicer's 13 points tied a season-high.
- The Leopards improved to 8-2 when leading at halftime.
- The Lafayette men were also victorious against Colgate on Wednesday night. The last time both Lafayette teams recorded same-day victories against the Raiders came on Feb. 21, 1998. The women won 62-58 while the men recorded a 77-66 win.