March 11, 2009
Box Score
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Leopard fans came out in droves to support the Lafayette women's basketball team in its quest for the program's first ever Patriot League title and saw Lafayette give the Mountain Hawks all they could handle. The Leopards found themselves within four points of the lead with one minute left, but ultimately it was Lehigh who came out on top of a 64-56 decision to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Three times the Leopards cut what had been double-digit Lehigh leads to single digits and the score stood 59-54 in favor of Lehigh with one minute to play. Lafayette (10-22) was forced to foul and the Mountain Hawks made five of seven free throw attempts in those final 60 seconds to seal the eight-point win over Lafayette.
Free throws plagued both teams as Lafayette shot only 35 percent while Lehigh (26-6) made just 42 percent of its free throw attempts. The Leopards did shoot 45 percent from the floor, however, a mark that edged Lehigh's 43 percent effort. Emily Garner was the lone Leopard in double figures, finishing with 15 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Lehigh's Alex Ross finished with a game-high 21 points but 20 of those points came in the first half as the Leopards held her to just one point over the final 20 minutes of play.
Lafayette's aggressive play paid off as Lehigh missed five of its opening eight shots and Lafayette held a 6-4 lead four minutes into the action. Garner upped the Leopards' advantage to four (8-4) with her second basket of the night.
The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes before Lehigh's Melissa Rich tied the game at 10 with 12 minutes to play. The Leopards fell behind 15-12 after Haly Crites' three-pointer at the 10:25 mark and three-straight consecutive treys from Alex Ross' made it a 13-point game (29-16).
Lafayette was held without a basket for five minutes before Garner broke through for a hard-fought layup to make it 29-18 with 4:17 minutes to play. Lauren Jackson followed with a three-pointer and Meaghan Malone kept it a single-digit game (34-25) with a basket at the 1:46 mark. Ross drained her sixth basket from beyond the arc to close out the first-half scoring and give the Mountain Hawks a 37-27 advantage at the midway point.
Elizabeth Virgin scored the Leopards' first two baskets of the second half and Cristin Zavocki's three-pointer made it a nine-point game (45-36). That basket sparked a 9-2 Lafayette run that cut the lead to two (47-45) with more than 13 minutes of action remaining.
Lehigh went on a run of its own and built a 10-point edge (55-45) as Lafayette went six minutes without a basket. Jessica Spicer ended the drought by draining a three with seven minutes on the clock and Lehigh's double-digit lead shrank to three (55-52) with Garner's seventh basket.
Virgin made it a one-point game (55-54) with less than four minutes to play but Lehigh's five free throws ended Lafayette's attempt at a comeback.
Postgame Notes:
- Lafayette placed two players on the All-Tournament Team: LaKeisha Wright and Emily Garner.
- The Leopards were the first No. 7 seed to advance to the championship game in the history of the Patriot League Women's Tournament.
- Despite the loss, Lafayette stands at 5-3 all-time in Patriot League tournament games played at Stabler Arena.
- Lafayette made its first championship game appearance since 1997 (63-62 OT loss to Lehigh). The Leopards' only other championship appearance was in 1992 (65-54 loss to Fordham).
