Feb. 27, 2008

Box Score |

EASTON, Pa. - Senior Vanessa Van De Venter recorded her fourth double-double of the season but it was not enough as the Lafayette women's basketball team dropped a 51-41 decision to Army on Wednesday night. Van De Venter finished with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Van De Venter's first-half jumper at 2:31 cut Army's advantage to just four points (22-18) but the Black Knights closed the opening period with an 8-2 run to take a 30-20 lead into halftime and went on to the eventual 10-point win. The Leopards (14-14, 6-7) shot just 22 percent from the field and made only one basket from beyond the arc. The Lafayette defense did force 16 turnovers by the Black Knights and held them below their season scoring average of 59.9 points per game.

Two Stefanie Stone free throws at 18:50 marked the first points of the game to give Army the 2-0 lead which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. Junior Meaghan Malone's layup made the score 4-2 but the Black Knights scored 10 unanswered points to take a 14-2 lead after eight minutes of play. Two Alex McGuire free throws at 11:33 stretched Army's run to 12-0 and the score stood at 16-2.

Jessica Spicer's two free throws at 10:48 ended Lafayette's scoring drought but Army's lead remained in double figures (16-4). Spicer's basket from three-point range cut the lead to 11 (18-7) with less than nine minutes remaining. Van De Venter's layup at 4:35 brought the Leopards within single digits of Army (20-12) before two Cristin Zavocki free throws made the score 22-16 with less than three minutes to play in the half. Van De Venter's jumper made it a four-point game (22-18) but an 8-2 run by the Black Knights to close the half gave them a 30-20 lead at halftime.

It took four minutes to score the first points of the second half as Brittany Purr's free throw at 16:04 made the score 30-21. Purr's basket less than two minutes later trimmed the Black Knights' lead back to single digits (32-24) and a Spicer free throw made the score 32-25 with over 13 minutes still to play.

The lead remained in single digits (38-30) following an Emily Garner layup at 8:30 and two Van De Venter free throws at 8:01. Spicer's steal and subsequent layup at 4:18 kept the Leopards in the game at 45-37. Lafayette trailed by eight (47-39) with three minutes remaining before Van De Venter's layup with 42 seconds to play made the score 48-41. Lafayette could not pull any closer and two free throws by Stone with 22 seconds on the clock sealed the 10-point Army win.

The Leopards conclude the regular season at home against American on Saturday, March 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the team's four seniors--Val Gomez, Maureen Johnson, Purr and Van De Venter--will be honored prior to the start of the game.

Postgame Notes:
- Senior Vanessa Van De Venter now has 1,351 career points and needs 26 more to tie Chris Sieling '94 for fifth all-time.
- Van De Venter has now scored 438 points this season, the seventh-best mark in Lafayette single-season history.
- Van De Venter now has 627 career rebounds and stands in sole possession of eighth place on Lafayette's all-time list.
- Lafayette's 41 points were the fewest scored this season.