Dec. 4, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
EASTON, Pa. - Fueled by its best defensive effort in 19 seasons, the Lafayette women's basketball team battled back visiting Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday afternoon by a score of 51-37. Junior Melissa Downey scored a team-best 11 points as eight different Leopards scored in the victory.
The Leopards improve to 3-5 with the win while Fairleigh Dickinson falls to 3-4. Both teams returned all five starters from last season's meeting in the Garden State, which the Knights won handily, 69-39.
The 37 points tallied by Fairleigh Dickinson represent the fewest allowed by a Lafayette team since a 55-32 win at Holy Cross on Feb. 5, 1992. The Leopards surrendered a season-low 39 points against the Crusaders last season in four-point victory.
Fairleigh Dickinson shot just 22.6 percent (14-62) from the field, including a 5-for-31 showing in the second half. The Knights were also limited to just 16.7 percent (3-18) shooting from beyond the arc and did themselves no favors with a 54.5 percent (6-11) day at the charity stripe.
Offensive, Downey's 11 paced a balanced Lafayette attack that shot 34 percent (17-50) from the floor, 25 percent (2-8) from three-point range and 62.5 percent (15-24) from the free throw line. Senior co-captain LaKeisha Wright also reached double figures with 10 points as well as seven rebounds and a game-best four assists.
The Leopards continued their season-long trend of solid rebounding work, holding a 48-42 edge on the glass. Junior Sarah McGorry and freshman Danielle Fiacco shared the game high with 11 rips apiece, including five offensive boards each. McGorry neared a double-double with eight points in addition to her strong glasswork, while Fiacco was a looming presence in the middle of the defense with a career-best six blocked shots. The Knights held a 19-16 edge on the offensive boards, but the Leopards took better advantage of their second looks with 17 second-chance points compared to Fairleigh Dickinson's 14.
Lafayette also won the turnover battle, forcing 15 miscues and translating them into 12 points. The Leopards also had 14 giveaways - though only five of those came in the second half - which the Knights turned into 14 points.
A 9-0 run sparked Fairleigh Dickinson in the early stages of the game, as the visitors raced out to a 15-5 advantage. The lead grew as large as 12 points at 19-7 with 8:07 to play, but the Leopards fought back with a 14-5 stretch over the remainder of the half to enter the intermission trailing by just three points, 24-21.
The run extended into the second half, as Lafayette scored the first six points of the frame to take a 27-24 lead. In total, the 20-5 run spanned 15:13 of game time before the Knights tallied their first points of the half with 12:47 remaining. Fairleigh Dickinson would twice cut the margin to a single possession before a 12-1 run, which was guided by six points from Wright, extended the lead to a game-best 14 points at 45-31 with under two minutes to play. Despite free-throw shooting woes for much of the contest, Lafayette went 8-for-8 from the stripe during the final 1:55 to cap the 51-37 victory.
Lafayette outscored the Knights by a 30-13 margin in the second half. Downey scored nine points after halftime, while eight of Wright's tallies came in the last 20 minutes of action.
Mariyah Laury and Alyssa Mayrose each had 11 points for Fairleigh Dickinson. Mayrose and Esther Wallace each corralled a team-best eight rebounds in the losing effort.
The Leopards return to the court on Thursday, Dec. 9. Lafayette travels to Manhattan College for a 7 p.m. outing against the Lady Jaspers, the first meeting between the two programs since the 1996-97 campaign. Kirby Sports Center sees its final action of 2010 next Saturday with a 1 p.m. visit from La Salle.
Notes: The home team has won the last seven meetings between the Leopards and Knights...Lafayette now leads the all-time series, 7-5...With 18 blocked shots through eight games, Danielle Fiacco is already tied for 10th place on the Leopards' single-season blocks list...The four-day layoff before Thursday's game marks the longest for Lafayette since the season began on Nov. 14.
