Feb. 28, 2009
Box Score
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The high-powered American offense proved too much for the Lafayette women's basketball squad to overcome as the Leopards lost 75-54 in the regular season finale. Lafayette, the No. 7 seed in next weekend's Patriot League Tournament, will face these same Eagles in the opening round next Saturday as American wrapped up the No. 2 seed with the win.
The Leopards (8-21, 2-12) were led in scoring by Emily Garner who finished with 12 points and was three rebounds shy of a double-double. LaKeisha Wright also finished in double figures (11). The Eagles (19-10, 9-5) saw three players reach the double-digit mark, led by Nicole Ryan's 16 points, 12 of which came from three-point range. American also scored 20 points off of Lafayette's 21 turnovers.
The Eagles jumped out to a 10-4 lead five minutes into the game, and back-to-back threes from Ebony Edwards and Ryan upped that lead to 10 (16-6) with 13 minutes on the clock.
The Leopards went six minutes without a basket until Jessica Spicer drained a three with 8:36 on the clock to make it 19-9. Elizabeth Virgin made it an eight-point game (21-13) with a layup at 6:03.
Lafayette unfortunately struggled to cut further into the lead and trailed 27-14 after a long jumper from Ashley Yencho. American's Nicole capped off the first-half scoring with a three-point at the buzzer to put Lafayette in a 34-21 hole at the midway point.
Virgin brought the lead to single digits (38-29) with two free throws at the 16:14 mark. The Eagles responded by draining three treys in a span of less than four minutes to build their lead to 18 (53-35) with 12 minutes to play.
Two Lisa Strack free throws following an intentional foul by Lafayette put the Leopards in a 20-point hole (55-35). Wright scored nine of her 11 points in the second half, including six straight at one point, but Lafayette could not cut the lead to less than 20.
The score stood 68-46 after Michelle Kirk's first basket of the half with four minutes to go and the Leopards ultimately dropped thea 21-point decision
The Leopards and Eagles will square off next Saturday at 5 p.m. No. 1 Lehigh plays No. 8 Colgate at noon, No. 4 Holy Cross faces No. 5 Army at 2:30 and No. 3 Bucknell plays No. 6 Navy at 7:30 p.m.
Postgame Notes:
- Emily Garner now has 648 career rebounds and stands in sole possession of eighth place on Lafayette's all-time list.
- Jessica Spicer had a game-high five assists, bringing her career total to 261, good for sixth all-time.
- All five of Lafayette's seniors saw playing time.
