Dec. 16, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Lafayette women's basketball team nearly came back from a double-digit deficit, but two free throws by La Salle with seven seconds to play handed the Leopards a 61-57 loss. Lafayette, which trailed by as many as 16, took the lead with less than five minutes to play but could not hold on and saw its three-game win streak snapped.
Cristin Zavocki's three-pointer with 4:28 remaining gave Lafayette (4-6) its first lead of the night (52-51), but four consecutive free throws, including the final two from Margaret Elderton with 7.4 seconds to play, prevented the Leopards from sealing the win.
Zavocki and LaKeisha Wright finished with a team-high 13 points apiece. The Leopards out-rebounded the Explorers by a 37-25 mark and shot nearly 45 percent to La Salle's (5-5) 38.8 percent showing.
Elizabeth Virgin tied the game at five with 14 minutes to play in the opening half, but the Explorers went back up by four (9-5). A three-point play by Wright at 10:13 kept her team within two (13-11).
La Salle went ahead 20-13 on Margaret Robertson's third basket of the half at 6:45. Robertson went on to finish with a game-high 15 points. Wright's second three-point play of the night cut the lead to two, 22-20, with more than three minutes remaining. Jessica Spicer knotted the game at 22-all on a long jumper with less than two minutes to play, but the Explorers closed the half with four straight points and took a 26-22 advantage into the locker rooms.
La Salle opened the second half with 12 unanswered points and held its first double-digit lead of the game (38-22) after less than two minutes of play following intermission. The Explorers led by as many as 16 (44-28) with 15 minutes to play.
Lafayette trailed by 11 (46-35) after Zavocki's basket at 11:10. That basket sparked a 14-2 run by the Leopards which made it a two-point contest (48-46) with less than seven minutes remaining. Zavocki drained a three during that run to make it 48-44 and Emily Garner's free throw at 6:26 capped off the run to cut the deficit to four (51-47).
Zavocki's third three of the night gave Lafayette its first lead of the night, 52-51. Garner's basket with 2:49 on the clock upped Lafayette's edge to three (54-51) but La Salle regained the lead and prevented the Leopards from completing the comeback with clutch free throw shooting in the final minute.
The Leopards are back on the road Friday with a 7:30 p.m. game at Big East powerhouse Rutgers.
Postgame Notes:
- Junior Amanda Smith matched her career-high of nine points with a 4-of-5 performance from the field.
- Jessica Spicer had a team-high four assists and now has 220 for her career. She surpassed Terri Dadio Campbell '92 holds sole possession of eighth on Lafayette's career assists list.
- Emily Garner finished with one block and now has 28 for her career. She needs one more to tie Chris Seiling '94 and Stephanie Hayes '94 for ninth all-time.
