THE OPENING TIP
*    Lafayette closes out the regular-season at Navy on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

*    Earlier this season, Lafayette secured its first Patriot League victory of the season, beating Navy 61-46 on Jan. 11. Sophomore Abby Antognoli and senior Jess Booth exploded for career-highs, with 24 and 21 points, respectively. Antognoli also netted a career-high five threes, shooting 62 percent (5-for-8). Junior Kayla Drummond grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds, while contributing eight points.

*    On Saturday, the Leopards defeated Bucknell 69-61 at Kirby Sports Center. Sophomore guard Abby Antognoli led the Leopards for the second consecutive game, with 21 points. The Leopards had two double-doubles as Makayla Andrews (16 points, 12 rebounds) had her third career double-double and sophomore Halee Smith (15 points, 13 rebounds) secured her first. Rookie Kay Donahue also put her name in the mix, scoring a career-high 11 points.

*    Following the conclusion of Wednesday night's contests, a win could put the Leopards in the no. 7 seed, while a loss cements Lafayette as the no. 8 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette is slated to host the first round game on Saturday with an opponent and time TBD.

SCOUTING NAVY
    The Mids sit in last place in the Patriot League with a 1-27 overall record. Their lone win was a 63-43 victory over conference foe Loyola. On Saturday, Navy dropped a 53-47 decision to Colgate in Hamilton.
    Junior guard Sydne Watts leads Navy with 12.7 points per game. Fellow junior, Morganne Andrews averages 6.6 boards per outing and has earned both her first and second-career double-doubles in the last week. Most recently, the forward put up 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Mids' loss to Colgate on Saturday. Senior guard Mimi Schrader is Navy's leading distributor, doling out 2.5 assists per game. Freshman Maren Louridas has been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week five times, averaging 11.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 2.1 apg. Classmates Kate Samson and Shannon Clarke have also earned ROW laurels.

LAST TIME OUT
     The Leopards sealed the final home regular-season victory at Kirby Sports Center, with a 69-61 win over Bucknell.
    Senior Jess Booth was honored prior to the game for her dedication and contributions to the Lafayette women' basketball program. The senior got the starting nod in her final contest at Kirby Sports Center. Booth has been out with an injury since the week of Jan. 9.
    The Bison were led by sophomore Isabella King with 14 points. Senior forward Emma Shaffer chipped in a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds), as Tai Johnson and Cecelia Collins also scored in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively.
    Both teams had slow starts offensively, as Lafayette outshot the Bison 30.8 percent (4-for-13) to 12.6 percent (3-for-22), taking a 10-7 lead at the end of the first.
    The Bison took a 16-10 lead with 7:33 remaining in the second, but Antognoli and Donahue propelled the Leopards on a 21-10 lead for the rest of the half, as each put up seven points apiece. Lafayette headed into intermission up six, 31-25.
    The Leopards led 44-43 with under one minute remaining in the third, before Sauda Ntaconayigize drained a momentum-grabbing three, as Lafayette headed into the final quarter holding a 49-43 lead.
    Isabella King netted five points as she spurred a 9-5 run for the Bison from the opening of the fourth to 6:23. Remi Sisselman netted a three-pointer at the end of the run to give Bucknell the 55-54 lead with just over five minutes remaining.
    Shaffer made the front end of a 1-for-2 trip to the charity stripe as Andrews responded on the next possession with a layup to even the score at 56-56 with 4:12 remaining in the contest.
    Antognoli went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and Andrews netted another layup, giving the Leopards a 60-56 lead with 2:24 remaining.
     Smith drained a jumper with just over one minute left, but Collins responded with a three to keep the Bison within three down 62-59 with 49 seconds remaining.
    Smith helped the Leopards by netting two free-throws, as Lafayette closed out the home regular-season with a 69-61 decision. 

A SCORING FRENZY
    In Saturday's win over Bucknell, four Leopards reached double figures with Abby Antognoli (21), Makayla Andrews (16), Halee Smith (15) and Kay Donahue (11) all having strong outings.
    Two Leopards had double-doubles with Andrews earning her third this season and Smith reaching her first-career. Andrews netted 16 points and grabbed 12 boards, while Smith scored 15 points and had a career-high 13 rebounds. 

ANTOGNOLI TAKES THE REINS
    Sophomore guard Abby Antognoli netted 18 points at Colgate on Feb. 22. and scored 21 against Bucknell on Feb. 25. Antognoli has averaged 14.3 ppg since missing Holy Cross (2/8) and Boston U. (2/11) due to injury.

DONAHUE STEPPING UP
    Freshman guard Kay Donahue has stepped up at point guard over the last eight games, averaging 24 mpg. Prior to Colgate on Jan. 28, Donahue was averaging only 8.5 mpg.
    Donahue has developed into a versatile asset off the bench, either joining or replacing Abby Antognoli as a point guard.  The rookie had a nine-point outing against Army, also contributing five rebounds, three blocks, two steals and one assist. On Feb. 25 versus Bucknell, the Belle Mead, N.J. native scored a career-high 11 points.