Feb. 21, 2009

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EASTON, Pa. - A festive Senior Day atmosphere and rowdy crowd were not enough to spur the Lafayette women's basketball team to victory as it dropped a 73-58 decision to archrival Lehigh for its eighth straight loss. Two seniors--Jessica Spicer and Emily Garner--led the Leopards with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Garner, who also finished with a game-high 12 boards, recorded her fourth double-double of the season. Lafayette, thanks in large part to Garner's rebounds, edged the Mountain Hawks 40-36 in boards but committed 17 turnovers which led to 28 Lehigh points. Four Lehigh players reached double figures, led by Alex Ross's 16.

A 7-0 Lehigh run put Lafayette (8-19, 2-10) in a 7-3 hole four minutes into the game. It remained a four-point game (10-6) until Elizabeth Virgin knotted the game at 10 with her basket at the 11:48 mark. Spicer then scored three straight baskets for the Leopards, including a fastbreak layup, which made it 19-16 with eight minutes to play.

The Mountain Hawks (21-6, 10-2) scored 10 of the next 14 points to up their lead to nine (29-20) with five minutes left. Lafayette went to foul line seven times over the final five minutes of play but failed to pull any closer than seven points and trailed 34-25 at the midway point.

Lehigh took its first double digit lead less than 30 seconds into the second half after a three-point play by Alexa Williams made it 37-25. That marked the beginning a 10-2 run by the Mountain Hawks, who opened up a 19-point lead (46-27) with 16:42 to play.

Lafayette trailed by a game-high 21 (54-31) with 12 minutes to play. Two Garner free throws at 9:50 made the score 57-40, the closest the Leopards had been since the opening minutes of the half.

Spicer's fastbreak layup two minutes later brought the Leopards within 12 (59-47) and another Garner free throw made it 61-50 with 5:20 to play. That was as close as the Leopards would get, however, as Lehigh increased its lead over the final minutes of the game to seal the 15-point win.

The Leopards conclude the regular season with two road games, beginning Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. game at Army.

Postgame Notes:
- Lafayette began and ended the game with all five of its seniors on the court--Laura Cullen, Emily Garner, Meaghan Malone, Jessica Spicer and Cristin Zavocki. For Cullen, it marked her first collegiate start.
- Emily Garner matched her career-high with 12 rebounds.
- Jessica Spicer's 18 points marked a season high and were only two shy of her career-best of 20. She accounted for 10 of Lafayette's 25 first-half points.