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EASTON, Pa. - Jamie O'Hare poured in a team-high 19 points, becoming the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 for her career, and Lafayette secured its first Patriot League victory of the season with a 71-56 victory over Boston University Saturday afternoon.

O'Hare drained a pair of free throws with 1:38 left in the third quarter to reach the milestone. Alex Cantwell, meanwhile, continued her recent strong play with new career-highs of 17 points and seven assists. She hit 8-of-11 shots from the field and also grabbed five rebounds in a team-high 39 minutes for the Leopards (3-11, 1-3 PL), who kept the visiting Terriers (0-15, 0-4 PL) winless on the season.

"The numbers all around were excellent today," head coach Theresa Grentz said. "We got a full team effort and were able to display some consistency. Everyone was asked to put a little extra into the tank, and they did that."

Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby (10 points) completed Lafayette's trio of double-digit scorers, and Ashley Lutz pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, reaching that total for a fourth time this season.

Cantwell closed out Wednesday's game against Army West Point with five fourth-quarter points, and she picked up right where she left off to start today's contest. She had six of the Leopards' first 10 points at the first media timeout, helping the Maroon and White get out to a 10-7 lead halfway through the opening quarter, and she had already cracked double figures by the end of the frame.

Lafayette led 20-11 heading into the second, with five different players scoring and Angela Ribarich adding three blocks off the bench. The lead grew to as large as 18 points in the quarter when O'Hare hit a jumper to make it 40-22 with 2:08 to play, and the home team's advantage was 40-24 at the intermission.

The Leopards hit 54.8 percent of their shots in the opening half (17-of-31), and they committed only one turnover, their fewest number of giveaways in a half this season. Their defense held Boston U. to 8-of-32 shooting (25 percent), including 2-of-11 from long distance (18.2 percent).

Lafayette reached its largest lead of the game on a 3-pointer from Sammy Stipa with 6:48 left in the third quarter. That long ball made it 47-26 in favor of the Maroon and White, and they continued to lead 55-38 heading into the final frame.

The Terriers made a brief comeback attempt in the fourth, getting as close as 11 points at 58-47 with 5:58 remaining, but the Leopards responded with jumpers from Cantwell and Lutz on the other end, and they closed things out in the final minutes.

Cantwell's 17 points were the most for any Lafayette freshman this season, and her seven assists were the most since Stipa dished out 11 against St. Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 4.

"Alex played a great floor game for us this afternoon," Grentz commented. "For a freshman to have seven assists while only committing one turnover is really impressive."

Anna Ptasinski added eight points off the bench, hitting each of her 3-point attempts and also draining a pair of free throws. The Leopards were 15-of-17 from the line overall (88.2 percent), their best shooting output of the season.

Lafayette looks to keep the momentum going on Wednesday, when the Maroon and White travel to Holy Cross for a 7 p.m. contest.

Notes:

Today's victory snapped a season-high six-game losing streak for the Leopards.

Lafayette improved to 3-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game.

O'Hare has now scored in double figures for nine-consecutive games, while Ottewill-Soulsby reached double digits for a fourth-straight tilt.