Dec. 21, 2008
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette women's basketball team overcame a 10-point second half deficit to come from behind and defeat Rice 79-76 in overtime on Sunday afternoon in Easton. Senior Cristin Zavocki drained a game-tying three with 20 seconds on the clock to force overtime and LaKeisha Wright's basket with 10 seconds left in the extra period clinched the three-point Lafayette victory.
The Leopards (5-7), who trailed by five with three minutes to play, knotted the game at 68 in regulation and outscored the Owls 11-8 in the extra session to remain undefeated at home. Senior Jessica Spicer netted a season-best 17 points and Wright's 17 points were two shy of her season-high. Rice (3-6) dropped its fifth straight game despite a game-high 20 points from Tara Watts.
The Owls opened the game with a 9-2 run that was capped off by a three-pointer from D'Frantz Smart. Sarah McGorry's jumper at 12:56 kept it a six-point game (17-11) and with 12:23 on the clock, Spicer collected an offensive board and put back the layup to bring the Leopards within four (17-13).
Lafayette proceeded to take the momentum away from the Owls with a 14-0 run. A three-point play by Emily Garner with less than 10 minutes to play cut Rice's lead to two (20-18) and Wright gave the Leopards their first lead (21-20) with a layup at 7:06. Lafayette went up by eight (29-21) after another basket by Spicer at 4:07 but Rice cut the Leopards' lead to three (29-26) and tied the game at 31 with Watts' three-pointer for the half's final basket.
Like they did to begin the game, the Owls opened the second period by scoring 10 points to take a 41-32 advantage four minutes into the action. Rice led by double digits for the first time (51-41) after a three by Watts. Wright's fifth basket of the contest made it 55-53 with more than eight minutes to play and Spicer gave Lafayette its first lead of the half, 56-55, with her third basket from beyond the arc.
The lead switched hands and the Owls led by five with less than three minutes to play. A three-point play by Garner tied the game at 65 with 1:37 remaining. With 45 seconds on the clock, Rice's D'Frantz Smart drained her fourth three of the afternoon before Zavocki countered with her game-tying trey at the end of regulation. A 7-2 Lafayette run in overtime combined with Wright's layup secured the 79-76 Leopard win.
The Leopards return to action at the Hokie Hardwood Classic hosted by Virginia Tech on Dec. 29 and 30. Lafayette will face the Hokies on the first day of the tournament and will play either Liberty or North Carolina A&T the following day.
Postgame Notes:
- The Leopards held a pregame ceremony to present the money raised from their September shoot-a-thon, Hoops for Hope, to Lauren Loose and Kasey Keenan. Lauren and Kasey, both of whom have battled pediatric cancer, will present the money to two pediatric cancer organizations: The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
- Today's game was the 896th game in program history. The Leopards will play their 900th game on Jan. 10 against Holy Cross.
- Lafayette is now 3-0 in afternoon games and 5-0 at home.
- Emily Garner matched her season-high in rebounds with nine.
- The 79 points were the most scored since a 83-62 win over Morgan State on Jan. 2 of last season.
