Baltimore, Md. – The Lafayette women's basketball team defeated Loyola for its sixth-straight win over the Greyhounds Sunday in Baltimore, Maryland, by a 70-45 final.
 
The Leopards ended their regular season 4-7 in the Patriot League and 1-5 in the central mini-conference. They have earned the seventh seed in the upcoming 2020-21 Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament and are set to travel to the No.2 Boston U. on Sunday for a 2 p.m. quarterfinal matchup.  
 
Sophomore Jess Booth led the way for the Leopards with a career-high 15 points. She added three rebounds, four assists and three steals to her stat line. Joining Booth in double figures was senior Natalie Kucowski who totaled 12 points and 13 rebounds, marking her 52^nd career double double. Junior Naomi Ganpo also found herself in double figures with 10 points, going a perfect 4-4 and 2-2 from the charity stripe.
 
Kucowski is now seven rebounds away from becoming the Patriot League All-Time Leading Rebounder.
 
Booth started things off for the Leopards less than 30 seconds into the game with a layup to put the Leopards up 2-0. Ganpo drew a foul a few seconds later and headed to the line for two. She made both of her extra shots to put the Leopards up 4-0 before Loyola put in back-to-back jumpers to tie the game up 4-4.
 
With 6:08 left in the first quarter, the Leopards and Greyhounds found themselves tied up at 7-7. Ganpo broke the tie with a layup, off an assist by senior Sydney Sabino, which was followed up with a bucket from Kucowski from beyond the arc to put the Leopards up 12-7.
 
Both sides traded layups and the Greyhounds put in a three-pointer with one second left in the quarter to send the two sides headed into the second quarter with the Leopards up 14-12.
 
Kucowski put in a layup for her seventh point of the game 47 seconds into the second quarter, off an assist by Booth, to put the Maroon and White up by four. Loyola put in a bucket to bring the score back within two and then put in a shot from beyond the arc to take the lead, 17-16.
 
Ganpo responded with a layup, her sixth point of the game, to put the Leopards back in the lead by one, 18-17. Loyola put in a three to put themselves up by two but it was quickly answered by freshman Makayla Andrews who put in a three of her own to put the Leopards back up by one, 21-20.  
 
The two sides continued to trade the lead until a three-pointer and a jumper by the Greyhounds gave them the one point lead heading into the locker room at the half, 30-29.
 
Booth came out in the third quarter, hitting her first three of the game to put the Leopards up 32-30. The Greyhounds tied up the game but Booth drew a foul and made one of her extra points to put the Leopards back up by one, 33-32.
 
The two squads once again continued to trade buckets until a 6-0 scoring run by the Leopards, sparked by a jumper from Ganpo, started to pull them away from the Greyhounds.
 
Kucowski and Sabino put in back-to-back threes to stretch out the Leopards lead to 10. Junior Nicole Johnson drew a foul and made both of her extra shots to put the Leopards up by 12 with 2:54 left in the third quarter.
 
The Greyhounds drew a foul, making both of their shots from the charity stripe to pull back within 10 but a jumper from sophomore Reilly Campbell with four seconds left in the frame pushed the Leopards lead back out to 12 heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
 
Lafayette held Loyola scoreless in the final frame until with 5:11 left to play, the Greyhounds put in a shot from beyond the arc. Booth put in a three-pointer of her own a few seconds later to push the Leopards lead out to 18 and then followed up her own shot with two more points to push the lead out to 20 with 3:57 left to play.
 
Freeland added a three-pointer and junior Makaila Wilson drew a foul, making both her extra shots. She followed those up with two layups and one more extra point to give the Leopards a 28 point lead with 38 seconds left.
 
Loyola added an extra shot with 16 seconds left in the game but the Leopards second half push was enough to give them the regular-season finale victory.
 
The win marks the sixth-straight win over Loyola for the Leopards and the second time this season they have swept the Greyhounds.