Feb. 27, 2013

EASTON, Pa. - In a game where field goals were few and far between for both teams, sophomore Brya Freeland's halfcourt heave at the buzzer fell short and Lafayette dropped a 39-37 decision to Colgate on Wednesday evening at Kirby Sports Center.

Junior co-captain Danielle Fiacco and sophomore co-captain Emily Homan combined for 12 blocks, including Fiacco's career-high seven stuffs. Offensively, Fiacco led the way for the Leopards (11-17, 4-9) with 11 points on 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Homan grabbed 10 boards and added six points, while sophomore Maddie Peabody chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds.

The Leopards struggled from the field, making just two field goals in the second half and going 9-for-48 for the game (18.8%). They held a 50-40 rebounding advantage, but were only able to garner nine second-chance points. Colgate's Jhazmine Lynch led the way for the Raiders (9-19, 3-10) with 11 points and four steals. The opposition went 14-of-59 from the field (23.7%) and 4-of-17 from the three-point line (23.5%).

Fiacco opened the scoring for the game with a put-back layup off an offensive rebound on the first possession. From there, action was limited as the two teams shot a combined 2-for-23 in the first 8:09 of play. The Leopards led, 6-4, at the 12-minute media timeout.

Homan's back-to-back buckets with less than 10 minutes remaining in the half pushed Lafayette's lead to four, 10-6. Then, with 5:23 to play, O'Hare curled off a screen at the top of the key and drained a three to extend the lead to five, 15-10.

Colgate cut it to two on the ensuing possession off a three from Lauryn Kobiela and took the lead with another triple from Paige Kriftcher to put the score at 16-15 in favor of the Raiders with 4:13 left in the first.

Peabody's jumper gave the lead back to the Leopards with 3:56 on the clock and Fiacco's turnaround from 10 feet out went down with just under a minute left as Lafayette went into the halftime break holding a 19-17 lead.

A fast break layup from Colgate's Mariah Jones tied the game at 21 apiece less than three minutes into the second stanza. However, a free throw from Fiacco with 16:28 to play broke the tie and put the Leopards up one, 22-21.

With 14:46 to go, Colgate's Catherine Lewis nailed a three from the left wing to put the Raiders on top, 25-22. Lewis hit another just 3:45 later and with no scoring in between, Colgate took the 28-22 advantage into the 12-minute media timeout.

Six straight free throws from O'Hare, Fiacco and Freeland tied the game at 30 with 7:45 remaining and finally, with seven minutes left to play, Peabody finally notched the Leopards' first field goal of the second half to put the score back in Lafayette's favor, 32-30. However, six straight from the Raiders took the lead back and forced a timeout from head coach Dianne Nolan with the score, 36-32 and 3:30 left to play.

Peabody hit a three out of the timeout to cut the lead to one, 36-35, and a Colgate foul put the Leopards on the line with the chance to tie or take the lead. Fiacco drained both and put the Leopards up one with under three minutes on the clock.

Colgate's Jhazmine Lynch scored on the next possession to regain the lead for the Raiders and an empty possession gave them the ball and the lead with less than two minutes to play.

Another possession riddled with missed shots put the Leopards in position to need a defensive stand and a bucket to win the game. Lafayette's 12^th block of the game gave them that chance with 17.8 seconds left.

Two missed layups from Fiacco and Homan forced the Leopards to foul with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Colgate's Josie Stockhill hit one of two and Freeland's heave from half court fell short as the Raiders came away with the victory, 39-37.

Lafayette hits the road for its final game of the regular season on Saturday, as it travels to Washington, D.C. for a matchup with American at 2 p.m.