EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette women's basketball welcomed St. Francis to Kirby Sports Center on Saturday for the team's home opener and the Leopards collected a 53-45 victory. 

It was the visitors who found an early three-point lead (7-4) after Yanessa Boyd converted her driving layup with 5:25 to go in the first quarter. Junior guard Kay Donahue and senior Abby Antognoli got going later in the period, helping Lafayette cut its deficit to one-point (10-9). The Maroon and White then put together a 5-1 run thanks to buckets by freshman Talia Zurinskas and Antognoli. After 10 minutes, Lafayette led 14-10.

The Red Flash outscored the Leopards 13-8 in the second quarter, led by six points from Alary Bell. Bell went a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, while adding a board and two steals in the period. Donahue led the Leopards with four points, but the visitors led 23-22 at the intermission.

The Maroon and White flipped the script to start the second half, scoring 11 more points (17-6) than St. Francis in the period. At the 9:47 mark, sophomore forward Tasha Chudy grabbed her own miss and converted the second-chance bucket to put the hosts back in the lead (24-23). The score was tied at 26 points apiece before Antognoli dropped in seven points along with Donahue (2) and junior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize (2) to give Lafayette an 11-point advantage (37-26). After 30 minutes, Lafayette was in front 39-29.

The visitors posted 16 points in the final quarter to Lafayette's 14, with Natalie Johnson leading all scorers with five. St. Francis cut its deficit to eight points (41-33), but a bucket by sophomore forward Brynn Beffert reestablished Lafayette's double-digit lead (43-33). At the 3:44 mark, the Leopards took their largest lead of the contest (14 points) after Antognoli knocked down a turn-around jumper. St. Francis hung around late, but at the final buzzer Lafayette captured its first win of the season.

Free l-throw shooting and turnovers were the keys to Saturday's non-conference matchup. Lafayette committed five fewer turnovers than St. Francis (20-15) and its 77.8 free-throw percentage bested the visitors' 42.9 percent.

Lafayette returns to the court at 7 p.m. on Wednesday as it travels to Marist.
 

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