EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette College Women's Basketball Team defeated American University 55-48 on Wednesday night in Kirby Sports Center for its 10^th Patriot League victory.

The Leopards were led by sophomore Nicole Johnson who notched a career-high 16 points and five steals. Junior Natalie Kucowski recorded 13 points and 16 rebounds to mark her 17^th double double of the season and senior Alexis Santarelli also found herself in double-figures with 11 points.

Sophomore Naomi Ganpo also found herself in double-figures with 10 points. She also recorded a career-high two blocks.

The win marked the first time since the 1992-93 season that the program has earned 10 Patriot League wins and the first time since the 2013-14 season that the program has recorded 14 overall wins.

Lafayette (14-12, 10-6 PL) and American (11-15, 7-9 PL) started off the game going basket for basket until a three-pointer by junior Drew Freeland put the Leopards up 13-11 with under a minute to go in the first. Johnson added a layup in the paint to make it 15-11 and after drawing a foul and making both free throws, American made it 15-13 heading into the second quarter.

The Maroon and White started to pull away in the second, stretching their lead out to seven but the Eagles fought back to go up by two, right under the three minute mark. Points by Kucowski, Ganpo and Johnson pulled the Leopards back out, 26-24, at the half.

American kept the score close throughout the third quarter, only allowing Lafayette to stretch its lead out as far as six before bringing the score back within one, 41-40, at the end of the third quarter.

Johnson got the Leopards ahead right away in the final frame after drawing a foul and making both her extra points to put the Leopards up 42-40. From there, they were able to continue the momentum through the final 10 minutes, holding American to just eight points to secure the win.

The win over American also marks the team's third Patriot League sweep of the season. They have also swept Loyola and Army and have the chance to record their fourth regular-season sweep this coming weekend at Navy.

The Leopards have two regular-season games remaining. They will play their final road game on Saturday, traveling to Annapolis, Maryland to take on Navy and then will return home for their final regular-season game on Wednesday, March 4 against Bucknell.