Dec. 1, 2010
Box Score
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - The Lafayette women's basketball team turned in one of its most complete games of the season on Wednesday night, going toe-to-toe with host St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center. However, despite a career-best 19 points from sophomore Alicia Manning, the Leopards were edged by the host Bonnies, 72-63.
With their third straight loss, the Leopards now stand at 2-5 on the season. St. Bonaventure, which downed Lafayette by 20 points last season en route to a WNIT appearance last season, improves to 4-3.
Manning's 19 points came on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, including five three-pointers on six attempts, and a 2-for-2 showing at the free throw line. As a team, Lafayette shot 50 percent (22-44) from the floor, 54.5 percent (6-11) from beyond the arc and 86.7 percent from the charity stripe.
Senior co-captain Elizabeth Virgin also reached double figures with 11 points, while fellow senior co-captain Lauren Jackson had 10 points and shared the game high of six rebounds with sophomore Samantha Jordan.
The Leopards held a 31-20 advantage on the boards and a 9-7 edge on the offensive glass, though the Bonnies notched nine second-chance points to Lafayette's eight.
The Maroon and White also committed 17 turnovers - including 11 in the first half - which led to 24 St. Bonaventure points, while the home team had just four miscues, all after halftime.
The Leopards started off scoring in threes, with two triples from Manning, one from Jackson and an old-fashioned three-point play by Virgin accounted for the Lafayette scoring ran the score to a 12-12 tie. The deadlock held to a 17-17 tally, before a 9-2 run gave the Bonnies a 26-19 lead. The seven-point cushion held for the remainder of the period, as the Leopards headed to the locker room facing a 32-35 deficit.
St. Bonaventure's advantage would not last long after the intermission however, as two more Manning treys sparked an 8-0 spurt that staked the Leopards a 33-32 lead. The margin stayed within four points for the next stretch of action, as the eighth tie of the contest brought the score to 48-48 with 10:21 remaining. At that point, Manning's fifth three-pointer and five points from Jackson accounted for an 8-3 run that gave Lafayette its largest lead of the game: 56-51 with under seven minutes to play. The Bonnies' next run would be the difference however, as their 10-2 stretch gave them a 61-58 lead that they would not relinquish. The deficit remained at three points with two minutes to play, before St. Bonaventure notched six late insurance points to seal a 72-63 win.
The Bonnies' Megan Van Tatenhove shared the game high of 19 points with Manning. Armelia Horton added 18 tallies and Chelsea Bowker poured in 16 for the home team.
Lafayette is back in action on Saturday, returning to the familiar confines of Kirby Sports Center for a 1 p.m. outing against Fairleigh Dickinson.
