Dec. 5, 2012

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Despite playing St. Joseph's to within eight points at the halftime break, the Lafayette women's basketball team couldn't withstand multiple second-half runs and fell, 69-43, on Wednesday evening in Philadelphia, Pa.

Junior co-captain Danielle Fiacco recorded her fifth double-double of the season, dropping 11 points and snagging 13 rebounds. Sophomore co-captain Emily Homan added eight points offensively, while junior Kelly Loughney notched six points and two steals.

The Leopards shot 16-of-48 from the floor (33.3%), but made just three of their 15 three-point attempts and were outscored 39-21 in the second half. The Hawks went 27-of-63 from the field (42.9 %) and committed just 12 turnovers compared to 28 for Lafayette.

Just over 16 minutes into the contest, Fiacco found Homan on the weak side block to pull the Leopards within two at 6-4. Lafayette came out playing very tough defense, forcing the Hawks into three missed layups in the first four minutes.

After a Leopard giveaway to the St. Joe's press, the Hawks' Erin Shields hit a three from the left wing and then hit another on the ensuing possession to push the St. Joe's lead to nine at 15-6 going into the 12-minute media timeout.

At the 10:18 mark, junior Kristan Liddle found a wide open Brya Freeland in transition for a three to cut the lead to eight at 17-9. Senior co-captain Alicia Manning was able to slip free at the top of the key two possessions later and put the score at 19-12 going into the eight-minute break.

The Maroon and White continued their tough defensive play throughout the rest of the first half, but the offensive struggles continued as well and they went in trailing, 30-22.

The Hawks came out firing to open the second, hitting all three of their opening shots in the first 1:16 to take the 36-22 lead and force an early Nolan timeout. St. Joseph's didn't let up, scoring the opening 11 points of the second half.

Lafayette finally got its first points of the half at the 14:31 mark as sophomore Linnel Macklin came free off a screen and drained a baseline jumper to put the score at 43-24.

A three from Freeland at the 11:32 mark stopped another 10-0 run from the Hawks, as St. Joseph's took a 51-27 lead into the 12-minute media timeout.

The Hawks continued to pull away from that point forward and the Leopards could never get closer than 19, dropping their sixth loss of the season, 69-43.

Next up for the Leopards is their longest trip of the season to Columbus, Ohio to take on No. 20 Ohio State on Sunday at 1 p.m.