Nov. 13, 2009

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EASTON, Pa. - Every streak has to come to an end and unfortunately for the Lafayette women's basketball squad, its stretch of home-opening wins came to a halt on Friday night. St. Peter's dealt the Leopards a 61-38 loss in the second game of a doubleheader at Kirby Sports Center.

The Peahens (1-0) held the edge in nearly every category, including a dominating performance on the boards, pulling down 46 boards to Lafayette's 18. They also shot 47 percent from the field while limiting the Leopards to a 26.2 percent showing.

Lauren Jackson led the Leopards (0-1) with 14 points (4-of-10), including six from outside the arc. No individual player finished with more than three rebounds.

Two Brooke Niquette free throws gave the Leopards the early 5-4 edge three and a half minutes into the game, their first lead of the contest.

A three-point play by Natasha Morris with just over 12 minutes remaining handed a 9-7 advantage back to the Peahens. Slowly but surely St. Peter's built on that lead, as a 10-2 run made it 19-9 with 5:58 on the clock.

With 5:27 left to work with, Jackson made the team's first field goal since the 1:45 mark, cutting the Peahens' lead to eight (19-11).

Alena Ali gave her squad a 10-point lead of the night (22-12) with a long jumper and 3:54 still to play in the opening half. Ali drained a three, her team's first, less than a minute later, to keep St. Peter's ahead by double figures. Ali finished with a game-high 19 points.

It stood 28-10 in favor of the Peahens at the midway point of the game.

LaKeisha Wright opened the second half with two steals which translated into four quick points, all from the free throw line, to bring Lafayette back within single digits (28-22).

St. Peter's took back a 10-point advantage (34-24) after another Ali basket with a little more than 16 minutes remaining. Jynae Judson's breakaway at 11:41 put Lafayette in a 44-27 hole.

The lead remained comfortably in favor of the Peahens for the remainder of the contest. The Leopards found themselves trailing by a game-high 23 (54-31) after Judson's layup with 7:15 on the clock, putting the game permanently out of reach.

Lafayette opens its first stretch of road games on Monday with a 7 p.m. contest at Monmouth. That game marks the first of three straight on the road for the Leopards.