OPENING TIP:
*Lafayette defeated Colgate 55-39 Wednesday night in
Kirby Sports Center for its fourth-straight victory and its fifth-straight at home. Sophomore
Nicole Johnson had a team and career-high 13 points. Senior
Sarah Agnello also recorded double digit points with 12 and junior
Natalie Kucowski totaled 19 rebounds.
*American leads the all-time series 42-7. The Eagles have won the last eight meetings with the Leopards last win coming on Feb. 17, 2016. The last meeting between the Leopards and Eagles was last season in the second round of the Patriot League Tournament. American won, 67-47.
*Lafayette's four-game Patriot League win streak is the longest win streak the program has had since the 2013-14 season. Lafayette's five-game home win streak is also the longest the program has seen since the 2014-15 season.
*Tip-off tomorrow afternoon is now set for 2 p.m.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Led by head coach Megan Gebbia in her sixth season at the helm, American enters Saturday's meeting with an 8-11 overall record and a 4-5 Patriot League record.
They are led by sophomore Jade Edwards who is averaging 14.1 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game. They returned three starters from last year's squad in Edwards, junior Indeya Sanders and senior Kaitlyn Marenyi and welcome four newcomers.
The Eagles are coming off an eight-point victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night. Marenyi went 10-for-19 from the field and 4-for-8 from three to earn a new career-high 26 points.
LEOPARDS LAST TIME OUT
Lafayette used a 13-point run in the second quarter to secure the win over Colgate Wednesday night in
Kirby Sports Center.
Lafayette came out strong in the first quarter, staying tied with Colgate until the two minute mark when senior
Tasha Vipond went 2-2 from the charity stripe to put the Leopards up by one.
Sophomore
Jiselle Havas and junior
Sydney Sabino each added one from beyond the arc to finish out the first quarter and put the Leopards up by six.
The Leopards opened up the second quarter just as strong as they finished out the first. Senior
Alexis Santarelli put one in from just outside the paint to get things started for Lafayette and from there, the Leopards would push their lead out to as far as 19 before the Raiders would even start to chip away at their lead.
Lafayette headed into the locker room up 30-13 with Colgate only able to cut the deficit to 17.
The second half saw Lafayette continuing to dominate in the third quarter, outscoring Colgate 14-12.
The Raiders got on the board first in the final frame but was only able to cut the Leopards lead down to 12 with a little over four minutes left to play. With less than four minutes to go in the game, junior
Natalie Kucowski made two layups and Johnson made one of her own to finish off the Raiders and secure the win.
The win was the first time the Leopards had beaten the Raiders in four meetings.
BEST SINCE THE 90's
The Leopards 6-3 record in Patriot League action is the program's best record through nine games since the 1993-94 season. The 1993-94 squad was 7-2 through nine games that season, finishing 18-9 overall and 9-5 in Patriot League play.
SAME FIVE
For the last twelve games, the Leopards have had the same starting five - seniors
Alexis Santarelli and
Sarah Agnello, juniors
Natalie Kucowski and
Drew Freeland and sophomore
Nicole Johnson. The starting five is averaging a combined 43.2 points per game, 25.9 rebounds per game and 9 assists per game.
STILL AT THE TOP
Even though she already became the newest member of the program's 1,000 point club and the program's all-time leading rebounder, junior
Natalie Kucowski isn't slowing down, still holding her place at the top of the national and Patriot League rankings. She is first in the NCAA in rebounds per game (13.6), defensive rebounds per game (9.8) and rebounds (258.0). She is first in the Patriot League in rebounds per game (13.6), blocked shots per game (2.79), defensive rebounds per game (9.8), blocked shots (53.0) and rebounds (258.0).
REBOUNDING QUEEN
On Jan. 8, junior
Natalie Kucowski pulled down 12 rebounds pushing her career rebounding total to 856, making her the program's all-time leading rebounder.
On Wednesday against Colgate, Kucowski pulled down 19 boards to put her career total at 910 - 90 away from 1,000 career rebounds.
When she hits 1,000 career rebounds, she will be the first in program history to have recorded 1,000 career rebounds and points.
