Nov. 14, 2012

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. - Facing its second Big East foe in as many weeks, the Lafayette women's basketball team ran into a sharpshooting Villanova squad, falling to the Wildcats inside Kirby Sports Center on Wednesday evening, 73-34.

Junior co-captain Danielle Fiacco followed up her consecutive double-doubles and Patriot League Player of the Week award with a seven-point, five-rebound performance. The Leopards shot 26.2% from the field, going 14-for-53. Comparatively, Villanova shot 49.1% on 27-of-55 shooting, making 10-of-20 three-point attempts.

Villanova came out firing, hitting its first four shots, three from distance, to take an 11-5 lead in the first four minutes. Sophomore co-captain Emily Homan made her first appearance of the season out of the 16-minute timeout. Homan, the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, finished the night with six points and three rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

Junior Madeline Fahan broke a 4:41 scoring drought for Lafayette, hitting a jumper at the 11:56 mark to pull the Leopards within 13 at 20-7. However, Villanova continued to shoot lights out from the floor, tallying a 58.6% field goal percentage in the first half, shooting 7-for-11 from behind the arc (63.6%). The Wildcats finished off the half on a 23-9 run to lead Lafayette 43-14 going into the break.

Both teams traded buckets early in the second half as Homan and Fiacco worked on complimenting each other in their first action together of the season. Senior co-captain Alicia Manning's drive and bucket with just under 15 minutes left cut the lead to 52-20, but Villanova's Devon Kane came back with a layup of her own to give the Wildcats the 54-20 advantage with 14:38 to play.

Lafayette kept fighting for the final 14 minutes, managing to play Villanova to a 30-20 second-half score, making the final, 73-34.

The Maroon and White will travel to University Park, Pa. on Saturday to take on the No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions at 2 p.m.