APPROACHING ANDREWS
    Senior guard Makayla Andrews is currently 71 points away from becoming the 20th Lafayette women's basketball player to achieve the 1,000 points milestone. The Liberal Arts major is averaging 12.4 ppg and is estimated to reach the achievement against Loyola on Jan. 24.

SCOUTING BOSTON U.
    The Terriers currently hold a 9-3 record after winning their last game 61-51 over Navy. Head coach Melissa Graves is in her third season after being appointed the program's head coach in 2021. 
    Today's contest is the 31st meeting between both schools. 
    Caitlin Weimar and Alex Giannaros have been Boston's leading scorers this season, averaging 18.6 and 13.6 ppg respectively. Giannaros also leads the team in assists per game, averaging 2.9 each contest.
    As a team, the Terriers are averaging 63.8 ppg while allowing opponents 60.3 ppg through 10 games. In the team's last game against Navy,  Weimar led the offense with 19 points, while senior Kelsi Mingo added 15 points.  As a team, Boston U. shot 49.0 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from downtown and 64.3 percent from the line.  

LAST TIME OUT
    Seniors Makayla Andrews, Kayla Drummond and junior Abby Antognoli combined for 40 points Wednesday evening in the teams' largest Patriot League victory since January of 2020. The Maroon and White shot 53.8 percent from the field, their best shooting performance of the season so far, leading to a 68-42 victory. 
    To begin the game, Drummond (12 points) scored six straight points to give the Leopards a 6-2 lead with 8:09 to go in the first quarter. Buckets from Halee Smith (four points), Sauda Ntaconayigize (five points) and Emma Shields (eight points) extended Lafayette's lead to 12-points (14-2) with just under four minutes left in the first. After 10 minutes of play, the Leopards held a 20-10 lead.
    Lafayette started the second quarter with a 9-5 run courtesy Antognoli (12 points), Drummond and sophomore Kay Donahue (five points). Neither team scored for the next two minutes, but Antognoli knocked down a mid-range jumper with 3:01 to play in the half to give the Leopards a 13-point lead (30-17).  At the intermission, Lafayette led 35-22.
    Coming out of halftime, Kya Smith cut Army's deficit to single digits (39-30) with a second-chance bucket in the paint. Smith finished the game as the Black Knights' leading scorer, dropping in 10 points. The Leopards then proceeded to go on a 6-0 run, while taking a 45-30 advantage with 5:37 to play. In the third quarter, the Maroon and White outscored Army 20-14 giving them a 55-36 lead with 10 minutes left to play.
    Lafayette kept its hot shooting going by beginning the final quarter with a 8-0 spurt that helped put away the game. At the 3:44 mark, the Leopards took their largest lead of the game (26) after Andrews converted a layup under duress. When the final horn sounded, Lafayette emerged with its first conference victory of the season, as well its first win of 2024.
    The Leopards ball movement was a key part to their success Wednesday evening. Lafayette racked up 19 assists compared to Army's 10. Junior forward Halee Smith, and classmate Kylie Favours, combined for nine assists.  Army shot just 26 percent from the field and nine percent from downtown.
ANTOGNOLI AVERAGES
    Junior guard Abby Antognoli currently leads the Leopards in scoring (13.6), assists (3.5), free throw percentage (81.8) and steals per game (2.2). The Bay Head, N.J. native is also lighting it up from three-point range, shooting at a team-high 38.8 percent clip (60 or more attempts).  Antognoli currently ranks sixth amongst the top scorers in the Patriot League as well as fourth in assists, second in free throw percentage (20 or more attempts) and second in steals.

SCORCHING SMITH
    Junior forward Halee Smith is shooting a team-high 47.2 percent from three-point range and averaging 8.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 1.7 apg. The Biology major has improved her three-point shooting 17 percent from her sophomore campaign. The Alexandria, Pa. native is also shooting at a 87.5 percent clip from the foul line.

SAME STARTERS
    Lafayette has used the same starting lineup for 10 of its 12 contests this season: guards Abby Antognoli, Makayla Andrews and Kylie Favours, forwards Halee Smith and Kayla Drummond. Sophomore guard Kay Donahue got the starting nod in the team's wins over UMBC and Dartmouth.