OPENING TIP
*The Leopards picked up their first win of the 2021 season last Saturday, beating Loyola 66-57 in Baltimore. Senior Natalie Kucowski led the Leopards in their first victory with 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Senior Drew Freeland and junior Nicole Johnson also found themselves in double figures, scoring 13 and 12, respectively, for the Leopards. The second game of the weekend series, postponed due to the winter storm that blanketed the East Coast, will now be played on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in Easton at 7 p.m.

*This weekend's meetings will be the 24th and 25th all-time meeting between the Leopards and Terriers. They split last season's series, 1-1, with Lafayette winning off Nicole Johnson's buzzer beater in Easton to start off Patriot League action and Boston U. getting the win later in the season in Boston. Each of the last seven matchups against the Terriers have been decided by seven points or less.

*This is the first of three-straight home games for the Leopards. They are set to play Loyola at Kirby on Wednesday night for a 7 p.m. tip-off and then will welcome Navy to College Hill on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

LAST MEETING
The last meeting between these two squads saw the Terriers coming away with the 47-40 win in Boston.

Sarah Agnello led the way for the Leopards in the game with 10 points. Alexis Santarelli finished with eight and Drew Freeland finished with seven to round out the Leopards top-three scorers.

The Terriers jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and by the end of the first 10 minutes of action had taken an 18-13 lead. They opened up the second quarter with a six-point run to push their lead out to 11.

The Leopards started to stage a comeback with just under three minutes left to play in the half to bring the score within four heading into the locker room at the half. Nicole Johnson continued the Leopards comeback attempt with a three-pointer at the start of the third quarter to bring the score within one. The two sides then traded buckets to keep the Leopards behind, 31-30.

After the Terriers then went on an eight-point scoring run to push their lead out to nine, a three-pointer by Sydney Sabino and a layup by Alexis Santarelli brought the Leopards back within four. But the Terriers went on a five-point run in the final 10 minutes to lock up the 47-40 win.

SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
The Terriers enters Sunday's game with a 5-1 overall record. Sunday's game against the Leopards will be their first of the season outside of their North Mini-Conference division. They are off to their best start since the 1978-79 season and have returned 12 from last year's squad, including all five members of the 2019-20 starting lineup.
 
Katie Nelson leads the Terriers in scoring so far this season averaging 14.8 points per game and five assists per game. She also leads the league in assists per game (5.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7), and ranks second in 3-point field goal percentage (.500).

LEOPARDS LAST TIME OUT
The Leopards picked-up their first victory of the season last Saturday, beating Loyola 66-57 in Baltimore, Maryland, to move to 1-4 on the season. The Leopards were led by senior Natalie Kucowski who totaled 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on the afternoon, marking her 47th career double double. Senior Drew Freeland and junior Nicole Johnson also found themselves in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Johnson's 12 points was a season-high. Sophomore Reilly Campbell also notched a career-high nine points and seven rebounds in the win and freshman Ashley Evans recorded her first collegiate points.

Lafayette came out strong right at the start with Freeland getting the Leopards on the board first off a jumper fed to her by Kucowski. Loyola put in the next four points but Kucowski was quick to put in two of her own to tie it up. From there, the Leopards would take a commanding lead off an 11-point scoring run, their largest of the day, before Loyola was able to find the basket again. The Leopards would head into the second quarter holding a 21-11 lead.

With just under four minutes to play in the half, a bucket from Johnson put the Leopards back on top, 26-24, sparking a nine-point Leopards run before the Greyhounds were able to get in a basket to make it 32-26 heading into the half.
Freeland drained a three right away to open up the second half and from there, the Leopards never looked back, going on another eight-point scoring run to eventually build their lead out to 14 with just minutes to play in the third quarter.

 With just under two minutes left to play in the game and the score 64-52, in favor of the Leopards, the Greyhounds attempted to once again chip away at the Leopards lead, bringing the score within 10. But it was an extra point by sophomore Jess Booth that would secure the first victory of the season for the Leopards. The win was the third-straight win over the Greyhounds for the Leopards.

INCHING CLOSER
Kucowski's 10 rebounds on the afternoon now brings her within 100 of becoming the Patriot League All-Time leading rebounder. She heads into this weekend's games fifth on the all-time list. Recent Holy Cross graduate, Lauren Manis, currently holds the record with 1,118 career rebounds.

AT THE TOP
Joining senior Natalie Kucowski at the top of the national rankings this week is senior Drew Freeland. Freeland currently finds herself first in the nation in three-point field goal percetange, boasting a 55.0 percent from beyond the arc. She also finds herself first in the Patriot League in three-point field-goal percentage and second in the league in three-point field-goals made, averaging 2.2 per game.

Kucowski still holds her reign at the top of the national rankings, coming in first in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (11.0), third in the nation in rebounds per game (13.0) and 20th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.60).