March 6, 2014

Washington, D.C. - Emily Homan's double-double was not enough, as American held off Lafayette's late push and escaped with a 51-49 win in the women's basketball Patriot League Quarterfinal matchup. Homan had game-high in points, 17, and rebounds, 12, for the Leopards in the loss. The Eagles used a strong second half, shooting 50.0 percent from the field to beat Lafayette.

With the Leopards trailing 46-41 late in the second half, Madeline Fahan buried her second triple of the night, followed by a Homan layup to tie the game at 46 with less than three minutes to play. Maddie Peabody tied the game once again at the free throw line with 1:52 on the clock. With 56.6 seconds to play Michelle Holmes converted a pair from the charity stripe to give American a 50-48 lead.

On Lafayette's next possession, Fahan drove to the basket and drew a foul. The senior knocked down 1-of-2 from the line, making it a one-point game with 31 seconds left. The Leopards fouled with 8.9 ticks left and American's Alexis Dobbs made the first and missed the second. Lafayette had a chance to tie or win in the final seconds, but could not convert and American held on for a 50-48 win.

American jumped out to a 10-6 lead at the 12:30 mark of the opening half. Homan and Fahan scored on back-to-back possession to pull the Leopards within one, 14-13 with five and a half minutes to play in the first.

Fahan buried a three from the wing to give the Leopards their first lead of the night 18-16 with two minutes left in the opening frame. Lafayette closed the half on a 10-2 run as Linnel Macklin knocked down another three from the top of the key as time expired to give the Leopards a 23-18 lead.

The Eagles trimmed the Lafayette advantage to three with a 4-0 spurt early in the second half. Alexis Dobbs pushed the run to six with a jumper from the elbow, as the Leopards led 27-26 at the 15 minute mark. Maddie Peabody countered for Lafayette with a baseline jumper, but a three from Dobbs tied the score at 29.

Lafayette and American exchanged baskets over the next three minutes, before a three from Jen Dumiak gave the Eagles a 34-33 lead at the 11:33 mark. A pair of free throws from Homan with nine and a half minutes left gave Lafayette the lead, 37-36. American opened a five-point edge 42-37 with 6:38 to play.

Homan stopped the run with a bucket inside on a feed from Jamie O'Hare. On the next possession, Homan collected an offensive rebound and converted the layup pulling Lafayette within one, 42-41. Dobbs answered for the Eagles at the other end with a triple to push American's advantage back to four, 45-41 with four minutes to play, as the Eagles held off Lafayette's late push and advanced, 51-49.

Macklin and Fahan finished with 11 points apiece, while O'Hare handed out a game-high six assists and collected nine rebounds for Lafayette. Dobbs led the Eagles with 14 points, while Holmes scored 13 and grabbed seven boards for American.

Lafayette ends the season 14-16 and 8-10 in the Patriot League, improving on last season's 11-19 mark.