Final Stats

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Lafayette women's basketball team dropped a Patriot League road contest to American 75-45 on Wednesday night at Bender Arena.

The Eagles (12-13, 9-5 PL) grabbed a large first quarter lead over the Leopards (2-24, 1-13 PL) and never looked back. By shooting the ball at a 46.8-percent clip and getting quality looks from down low, which led to 36 points in the paint, the Eagles kept their lead over 20 once they reached that large of an advantage early in the second quarter.

Lafayette was led by Olivia Gumbs' team-high 14 points, marking the fourth consecutive game that the Newark, Del. native reached double-digit scoring. Alongside Gumbs, Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Sammy Stipa each chipped in with seven.

It took just over two minutes for either team to score, but it was the Leopards getting on the board first, picking up right where they left off last game with a bucket by Gumbs. Over the course of the next six and a half minutes though, American would outscore Lafayette 18-4 and at the end of the quarter, led 23-7.

It was a tough shooting stretch for the Leopards, who saw just two of their 13 shot attempts go in the hoop, while the Eagles shot 50 percent from the floor.

The Eagles opened up the second quarter with three straight makes including a pair of 3-pointers, which sparked a 12-4 American run. The run gave American a 35-11 advantage. However, Lafayette briefly halted the momentum once Sarah Agnello came into the game and buried a three from the left corner.

The Leopards would score just four more points in the final five minutes of the half, all coming from Gumbs before she picked up her third foul. The freshman accounted for eight of the team's first 18 points and did it both from midrange and at the charity stripe.

On the other end, the Eagles took advantage of the Lafayette shooting woes and took a 24-point lead, 42-18, into the half.

The Leopards picked it up to start the third and went 4-of-5 from the field, but then fell into a drought and American pushed the lead to 32, 63-31, heading into the final quarter of play.

Lafayette held the edge in scoring in the fourth, but the Eagles' lead proved to be insurmountable and American went on to capture the conference win.

The Leopards will finish off a two-game road stretch when they see rival Lehigh this Saturday at 2 p.m. for a Patriot League road game at Stabler Arena.