Feb. 21, 2012
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette women's basketball team travels to Hamilton, N.Y. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 eyeing a season sweep of Colgate. Action from Cotterell Court begins at 7 p.m. and will be available on GoLeopards.com via Patriot League All-Access. The Leopards have not swept a Patriot League foe since taking two from Colgate and Lehigh in the 2007-08 season.
A strong defensive effort in the second half was not enough to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit as the Leopards fell to rival Lehigh, 57-47, on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Sarah McGorry notched a double-double consisting of a team-high 14 points and a game-best 12 boards, while Danielle Fiacco posted 11 rebounds and swatted 10 shots. She also scored seven points to come up just short of a triple-double. Emily Homan tallied five blocks in addition to 12 points to contribute to a Lafayette and Patriot League-record 15 blocked shots. Brya Freeland also netted double figures with 10 points.
Emily Homan was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday, marking her fifth overall weekly honor and fourth Rookie of the Week nod of the season. She averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Leopards in games against Holy Cross and Lehigh last week, tallying a double-double (13 pts., 10 rebs.) in Worcester on Feb. 15 and registering 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and a career-best five blocks against the Mountain Hawks on Feb. 18.
Homan previously earned Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 5, Jan. 3 and Jan. 9. She added a Player of the Week nod on Jan. 3 - becoming just the second player in Patriot League history to sweep the weekly awards. Homan's five awards tie the single-season record set by Christel Rocha '01, who was a five-time Rookie of the Week in the 1997-98 campaign. Vanessa Van De Venter '08 holds the Lafayette career record with seven total weekly honors.
Led by Homan's five weekly awards, Lafayette has established a new program record with seven weekly honors in one season, surpassing Rocha's 1997-98 Leopards' squad.
A three-pointer with 18 seconds left guided Colgate past visiting Navy, 62-60, on Saturday. The Raiders improved to 7-20 overall and 4-8 in Patriot League play with the win, moving into sixth place in the league standings with two games to play. Colgate is 4-2 at home during league play (0-6 on the road) with single-digit wins over Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Navy.
Jhazmine Lynch, the Raiders' leading scorer with 13.7 points per game, did not play on Saturday and her status is unknown for Wednesday. Tricia Oakes, who posted a double-double at Kirby Sports Center last month, is averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game.
Including the Jan. 25 win, the Leopards hold a 31-26 lead in an all-time series that dates back to a Lafayette victory in Hamilton on Dec. 4, 1976. The Leopards have won the last two meetings - both at Kirby Sports Center - but has dropped the last two at Cotterell Court. The two clubs have split the last 10 meetings, with each team owning a 3-2 edge in the last five on its home court. Ten of the most recent 12 encounters have been decided by fewer than 10 points.
Action returns to Kirby Sports Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 for the final home game of the 2011-12 regular season. First-place American visits College Hill for a 3 p.m. contest that will be broadcast live on the Lafayette Sports Network and GoLeopards.com. Seniors Melissa Downey, Sarah McGorry and Alexandra Serowoky will be honored prior to the game.
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