Dec. 28, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Twelve blocked shots from freshman center Danielle Fiacco fueled a strong defensive effort as the Lafayette women's basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit to down Quinnipiac, 56-54, on day one of the 20th Annual St. Joseph's Hawk Classic in Philadelphia. Fiacco's dozen rejections - as well as the Leopards' 14 total blocks - set new Lafayette, Patriot League and Hawk Classic records.
With their fourth win in five games, the Leopards even their record at 6-6. Lafayette has now matched its win total from all of last season and earned six non-conference wins for just the second time in 12 campaigns. The Bobcats fall to 3-8.
Offensively, senior co-captain LaKeisha Wright posted a team-high 12 points to become the 11th Leopard to tally 1,100 career points. Junior Sarah McGorry notched 11 points and shared the game high with nine rebounds. Fiacco also hauled in nine boards in addition to her 12 blocks. Senior co-captain Lauren Jackson added nine points off the bench.
As a team, the Leopards shot 20-for-53 (37.7 percent) from the field, 3-for-7 (42.9 percent) from downtown and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the charity stripe. The Leopards were outrebounded, 55-48, and committed 25 turnovers that led to 26 Bobcats' points. Lafayette forced 17 miscues and turned them into 13 tallies.
On the defensive end, the Leopards held Quinnipiac to just 19-for-78 (24.4 percent) from the floor and 4-for-20 (20 percent) from three-point range. The Bobcats also did themselves a disservice with a 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) day at the free throw line.
Quinnipiac made the first run of the game, executing a 10-0 spurt to claim a 15-7 advantage with 11:18 left in the half. The lead remained at two possession or more for much of the period, until two free throws by freshman Madeline Fahan and a three-pointer from sophomore Ashley Springer cut the deficit to a single point at 28-27 with 50 seconds left to the intermission. The Bobcats struck last in the period to head to the locker room with a three-point edge, 30-27.
Quinnipiac kept the Leopards at arm's length to open the second half, eventually extending its lead back to six points at 43-37 with 12:31 remaining. Jumpers from sophomore Samantha Jordan and Wright cut the lead to two points, and then another triple from Springer gave the Leopards' their first advantage of the half at 44-43 with 10:50 to go. The squads then traded leads, with another Wright bucket at the 7:59 mark giving the Maroon and White a 48-47 edge.
Though the Leopards would not relinquish that lead over the last eight minutes, the contest came down to the final possession. Quinnipiac had the ball trailing 55-54 with 16 seconds to go and a chance to win, but Fahan stole an errant pass and was fouled with 1.3 seconds remaining. The freshman hit one of two at the line to solidify a 56-54 win.
The swarming Lafayette defense held the Bobcats without a field goal over the final 6:19 of the game, though Quinnipiac played strong defense as well and converted some free throws to keep the pressure on the Leopards.
The Bobcats' Courtney Kaminski had a game-high 14 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
Lafayette advances to the finals of the Hawk Classic, where they will meet host St. Joseph's tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Hawks escaped New Hampshire, 67-66, earlier today.
