EASTON, Pa. – The Lafayette women's basketball team defeated Loyola, 76-69, on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center to complete the regular season sweep of the Greyhounds and move to 2-5 on the season.

The Leopards were led by senior Natalie Kucowski who ended the night with a career-high 36 points and 13 rebounds, bringing her to career double double total to 48. Her 36 points is the most by a Patriot-League student-athlete in a game this season.

Two other Leopards found themselves in double figures with senior Drew Freeland and sophomore Jess Booth putting up 10 points each. Booth was a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.

The win gave the Leopards the season sweep of the Greyhounds as well as extended their win streak against the Greyhounds to four-straight.

Loyola (0-2 South, 0-6 PL) won the tip and jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. Kucowski put in the first bucket of the game for Lafayette (0-4 Central, 2-5 PL) and then the Greyhounds turned over the ball resulting in a three-pointer from junior Nicole Johnson for the Leopards to go up 7-5.

With the Leopards up 13-10, Loyola tied-up the game before Lafayette retook the lead off a field goal from Kucowski. They held a 24-20 lead at the end of the first quarter and held the lead through the second quarter to head into halftime up 40-37.

The Greyhounds kept it close in the third quarter until with just under three minutes left to play in the quarter, junior Makaila Wilson put in a field goal off a Greyhound turnover to put the Leopards up 57-46. Loyola responded with two of its own to put the Leopards lead at nine.

Kucowski then came up with a big bucket for the Leopards to bring them back out by 11. She then drew a foul, making one of her two extra points to give the Leopards a 12-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

The fourth quarter is when the Leopards saw their largest lead of the night. With 3:30 left to play in the game, Loyola pulled back within nine. Freeland hit a big shot from beyond the arc to bring the Leopards back out ahead by 12.  

Kucowski was then fouled and sent to the line again. She made both her extra shots this time to give the Leopards a 14-point lead, their largest of the game. The Greyhounds got the final seven points of the game but the Leopards were able to hang on and closed out the night with a 76-69 victory.

The Maroon and White are back in action next Wednesday as they are set to travel to Annapolis, Maryland, to take on Navy. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.