EASTON, Pa. – Freshman guard Haylie Adamski guided Lafayette to its first win of the calendar year on Saturday, taking down Loyola Md. 63-52 at Kirby Sports Center. The Economics major netted a career-high 24 points and tacked on four rebounds, two steals and an assist in the victory.

Loyola took the first lead of the game (9:36) after Koi Sims got her layup to fall, but the Leopards were on top for the remainder of the outing. Lafayette led 7-6 at the 6:04 mark before it gained some offensive momentum. Senior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize and Adamski knocked down back-to-back triples to hand the hosts a 13-6 advantage with 4:40 to go in the period. Teresa Kiewiet and Talia Zurinskas got involved in the scoring as time ticked away and the Maroon and White led 18-11 after 10 minutes.

The Leopards continued to keep up their offensive pace in the second quarter. Adamski led the way with seven points in the stanza, while Ntaconayigize tacked on an additional five. With 4:11 left Olivia Shaughnessy capped off an 8-2 Greyhounds' run with a three-pointer to reduce the visitors' deficit to seven points (30-23). The following two minutes were scoreless, but Lafayette had the last laugh of the half thanks to buckets by Adamski and Kiewiet. The Leopards maintained a 34-23 lead heading into the break.

Kia Damon-Olson's group notched its largest lead of the game in the third quarter (20 points). Both sides exchanged baskets in the first 90 seconds and Loyola made it a nine-point game when Kailey Kalet finished her driving layup (9:13). The Maroon and White responded with a 9-0 spurt, which featured points from freshman forward Maddison Krug (2), Ntaconayigze (3) and Adamski (6). Krug was a key force on the boards in Saturday's game, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. The Leopards were on top 49-30 prior to Loyola making a 6-0 run, but Kiewiet drained a clutch mid-range jumper with 1:11 to go that handed Lafayette a 12-point lead (51-39) at the end of the third.

The visitors narrowly outscored the Leopards in the final quarter (13-12), but their double-digit deficit proved to be too much to overcome. Lafayette entered the contest as the Patriot League's leaders in three-point percentage and that held true as the hosts shot 45.8 percent from downtown (11-24) to capture their first conference win of the season.

Turnovers and points from them were another key in Saturday's matchup. The Leopards turned the ball over three fewer times than the Greyhounds (16-13), while scoring 20 points off them compared to Loyola's 13.

The Maroon and White return to the court at 11 a.m. on Wednesday as they head north to face Boston U.
 

To keep up with the Lafayette women's basketball team, follow its social media pages.

X/@LafayetteWBB | Instagram/@lafayette_wbb | Facebook/GoLeopards