Dec. 2, 2009
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Looking to snap a five-game slide, the Lafayette women's basketball squad took to the road and grabbed a much-needed 62-56 win over Penn on Wednesday night at The Palestra.
The Leopards' clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch, combined by two players reaching double figures, helped secure the win. Lauren Jackson led Lafayette with 20 points, an impressive 15 of which came from the free throw line as she sank all 15 of her attempts. LaKeisha Wright joined her in double figures with a season-high 17.
Lafayette (2-6) shot a season-best 87 percent (20-of-23) from the charity stripe and shot 42 percent from the field to top the 60-point plateau for the first time this fall.
Conversely, Penn (0-6) struggled from the free throw line, sinking just 60 percent of its attempts, including a 42 percent showing in the opening half.
The teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of the game and Penn took a slim, 8-6 edge on a Sarah Bucar three with more than 16 minutes on the clock. Bucar went on to score five more points over the next two minutes, making it 13-7 in favor of the Quakers. She would finish with a game-high 25 points.
Seven points from Jackson over the first 10 minutes kept Lafayette within three, 14-11, and a fastbreak layup by Sarah McGorry knotted the game at 15 with nine minutes remaining.
Alicia Manning drained a three to give Lafayette an 18-15 advantage, part of a 9-2 Leopard run that put Penn in a 20-16 hole at the eight-minute mark.
Four minutes later, it remained a four-point Lafayette advantage (24-20) before Wright's layup with less than a minute to play made it a seven-point game. Danielle Jenkins proceeded to drain a jumper with three seconds on the clock to give the Leopards a nine-point halftime advantage (30-21).
A basket from Wright marked the first points of the half and handed Lafayette its first double-digit lead of the night (32-21).
While the Leopards maintained an eight-point edge (32-24) four minutes into the half, they also racked up six fouls in that span. Fortunately Penn was connecting on less than half of its free throw attempts to that point, and Jackson's fastbreak layup at 14:48 built the lead back to double digits (36-25).
A three-minute scoring drought by Penn allowed Lafayette to take a game-high 14-point edge (39-25).
Lafayette put Penn in the double bonus with nearly 10 minutes still to play and an 8-0 Quakers run that included five points from Bucar suddenly made it a three-point contest (46-43) with 6:37 on the clock.
Penn stayed within sight of the lead when a Caitlin Slover three with 59 seconds on the clock made the score 56-51.
Lafayette's defense made sure the Quakers never got any closer, thanks in large part to nine points from the free throw line over the final 1:42 of the game, as Lafayette held on for the victory.
The Leopards return home on Monday to host Long Island at 7 p.m.
Postgame Notes:
- Freshman Samantha Jordan made her first career start as head coach Tammy Smith used her fourth different lineup of the season. Jordan played a season-high 25 minutes and dished out five assists to go along with five rebounds.
- Lafayette held a lead at halftime (30-21) for the first time this season.
- Freshman Alicia Manning played 16 minutes, double the amount of time she had played in a single game this year.
