Women's Basketball Back on the Road against Marist
Dec. 1, 2008
Match-Up: Lafayette (1-4) at Marist (4-1) THE MATCH-UP: After a lengthy four-game road trip to start the season, the Leopards (1-4) finally opened their home season on Saturday against UTPA and were victorious, 57-51. The Red Foxes (4-1) were last in action on Friday, recording a 73-53 win at Tulsa for their fourth victory of the season. Like Lafayette, Marist opened the season with four games on the road. The Leopards and Red Foxes meet for the first time in the teams' histories. NEXT UP: Lafayette begins its longest homestand of the season on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against Penn. On Friday, the Leopards host NJIT at 7 p.m. and close out the weekend against Bryant at 1 p.m. ON THIS DATE: In 1993, the Leopards won a 61-58 road decision over Princeton. The victory was Lafayette's fourth straight against the Tigers and was the second win in what would go on to be a six game win streak for the Leopards. LAST TIME OUT FOR LAFAYETTE: In a closely contested battle, Lafayette recorded its first win of the season with a 57-51 win over Texas-Pan American in its home opener. Senior Cristin Zavocki recorded her first double-digit scoring performance of the season with a game high 15 points, including nine from three-point range. The Leopards scored 15 points off of UTPA turnovers to finish with a season high 57 points and recorded their fifth straight season-opening victory. Senior Jessica Spicer pulled down a season high seven rebounds for Lafayette, which finished with a season low 12 turnovers. The win was the Leopards' first ever against UTPA in three meetings. SCOUTING MARIST: The Red Foxes began their 2008-09 campaign with three wins--against Albany and at Northeastern and at Harvard. Their lone loss came against No. 4 Oklahoma on the road. Marist rebounded with a 73-53 win at Tulsa on Friday to improve to 4-1 on the season. Junior Rachele Fitz leads the team in scoring with 23.0 ppg. She is also the squad's top rebounder, pulling down 7.2 boards per contest. Joining Fitz in double figures is redshirt senior Julianne Viani, who is averaging 16.2 ppg. STILL SEARCHING: Lafayette is still in search of its first game in which three or more players reach double figures in scoring. The longest stretch the Leopards went last season without three or more players reaching double-digits was seven games (Jan. 26-Feb. 20). Cristin Zavocki's 15 points against UTPA on Saturday were the most scored by a Leopard this season. TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD, BUT THREE OUT OF FOUR IS BETTER: In two of the previous three seasons, after recording its first win of the season, Lafayette has gone on to win its following game. The Leopards would like to make it three out of four years with a win over Marist tonight. NO PLACE LIKE HOME: With Saturday's win, Lafayette has now won five straight home openers. The streak began with a 63-47 win over Radford on Dec. 2, 2004. LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT: Senior Jessica Spicer leads Lafayette with 16 assists (3.2 apg) through the first five games. She has 202 for her career and needs 13 more to tie Angela Spell (1990-94) for 10th all-time on Lafayette's list of career assist leaders. BUILDING BLOCK: Senior Emily Garner enters tonight's game with 26 career blocks. She needs three more to tie Chris Sieling '94 and Stephanie Hayes '94 for ninth all-time. RAINING THREES: Lafayette's 44.4 percent showing from three-point range against Mount St. Mary's was a season high. Cristin Zavocki led the team with a 3-for-7 showing from beyond the arc to account for all nine of her points against The Mount. WALK A MILE, OR 3000, IN MY SHOES: Lafayette wrapped-up its four game, season-opening road trip on Nov. 22, the longest stretch of away games this year. In a span of 10 days and four games, the Leopards traveled 3,262 miles (all miles roundtrip totals): Murfreesboro, Tenn. (1632 miles), Cullowhee, N.C. (1336 miles) and Emmitsburg, Md. (294 miles). The last time Lafayette opened the season with four straight road games was in 2001 (at Sacred Heart, at Fairleigh Dickinson, at Binghamton, vs. Long Island). JUMPING FOR JACKSON: Sophomore Lauren Jackson had two career games in the consolation round of the WNIT. On Nov. 21, she scored a then-career high 10 points against Western Carolina on 4-of-10 shooting. Twenty-four hours later, she surpassed that mark with 11 points against UC-Riverside to lead the team in scoring for the second straight game. WELCOME TO THE WNIT: Lafayette earned the program's first-ever invite to the Preseason WNIT. The invitation came following a 14-16 2007-08 campaign, the winningest season in a decade for the Leopards. The WNIT was played in the format that was introduced in 2007, where each team was guaranteed to play three games. The tournament opened on Friday, Nov. 14. The winning teams advanced to the second round of play while teams that lost in the first two rounds played consolation games last weekend. The championship was played on Sunday where No. 4 North Carolina defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 80-79 to win the title. NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: For the second straight season opener, all three of the Leopards' freshmen saw action: Melissa Downey, Sarah McGorry and Alexandra Serowoky. Serowoky led the trio with five points against Middle Tennessee. 2008-09 PATRIOT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL: The Leopards were picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League's preseason poll. Lafayette received 38 points. Holy Cross garnered the top spot with 90 points, including eight first place votes. Lehigh took the second spot with 83 points (six first place votes) and American was chosen to finish third, receiving 75 points with two first place votes. Bucknell took fifth with 53 points. Navy and Colgate rounded out the seventh and eighth spots with 35 and 14 points, respectively. FRESH FACES: Lafayette welcomed three freshmen to the squad this fall: Melissa Downey, Sarah McGorry and Alexandra Serowoky. Downey, a 5-8 point guard from Havertown, Pa., was a four-year starter at Cardinal O'Hara High School. Downey's squad won the Philadelphia Catholic Championship her freshman and sophomore seasons and she earned Second Team All-Delaware County honors during her high school career. A 6-0 forward from Doylestown, Pa., McGorry was a four-year starter at Mount St. Joseph Academy. She scored her 1,000th career point during her senior season, during which she also shot 80 percent from the free throw line. As a junior, McGorry averaged 13 points and six rebounds per game. Serowoky hails from Dearborn, Mich. and was a four-year letterwinner at Ladywood High School. Serowoky, who stands at 6-1, saw time as both at both forward and center. As a junior, she earned a spot on the Free Press Top 25 Preseason List and was later named an All-Catholic League and All-Area player. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2007-08 CAMPAIGN:
• Lafayette's 14 wins doubled the win total from 2006-07 and also marked the most single-season victories in a decade SMITH ON THE SIDELINES: Head coach Tammy Smith is in her eighth season at Lafayette and 13th overall as a head coach. In 2007-08, she directed the Leopards to their most wins (14) and league victories (6) in a decade. Smith is the fourth head coach in Lafayette's 35-year history. She has a career record of 155-231 (.402), which includes a 113-68 mark and two NCAA Tournament appearances in seven seasons at D-III Muhlenberg. STRIVE FOR FIVE: All five of the team's seniors--Laura Cullen, Emily Garner, Meaghan Malone, Jessica Spicer and Cristin Zavocki--were chosen by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2008-09 season. FEELS LIKE THE VERY FIRST TIME: The Leopards will play at least seven new opponents this year: Bryant, Marist, Middle Tennessee State, Rider, Rutgers and Virginia Tech. At the Virginia Tech Classic in December, the Leopards will play either Liberty or North Carolina A&T on the second day of the tournament for the first time, in addition to facing first-time opponent Virginia Tech on the opening day. ALL-TIME RECORD: The program, now in its 36th season, has played 889 games, compiled an overall record of 408-481 (.459) and recorded five 20-win seasons. PENNSYLVANIA PLAYERS: Three players with local connections - Melissa Downey (Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), Amanda Leone (Easton, Pa./Easton) and Sarah McGorry (Doylestown, Pa./Mount St. Joseph Academy) - are on Lafayette's 2008-09 roster. Two of those players--Downey and McGorry--are freshmen, while Leone returns for her junior season. REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: There is no denying the chemistry between seniors Jessica Spicer and Emily Garner on the court. Perhaps that is because the two have a long history of playing ball together, beginning with an AAU stint when the girls were just 10 years old. They played on the same AAU team in Fairfax, Va., while also both making the varsity team at Robinson High School as freshmen. Midway through their sophomore year, Spicer's family moved to Illinois, but the duo reunited at Lafayette for the 2005-06 season. ACADEMIC ACCOLADES: Six members of the basketball team were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2007-08. Maureen Johnson '08 led the group with a 3.80 grade-point average (GPA) during the spring semester. CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Lafayette dropped nine games by 10 points or fewer last season, which included overtime losses at Holy Cross (77-70) and vs. American (60-57). In total, the Leopards played three overtime games with their one extra-session victory coming against Bucknell (64-58). SUPREMACY FROM BEYOND THE ARC: Last season, Cristin Zavocki set a Lafayette women's basketball record with eight threes against Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 8. Against Holy Cross, she came close to re-writing the record books yet again. Zavocki drained six more treys (6-of-8) against the Crusaders to account for all 18 of her points. LAFAYETTE vs. the PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 342 games all-time against the seven other current members of the Patriot League and is 150-192 (.439) in those contests. The Leopards own an 84-155 (.352) overall record since joining the league in the 1990-91 season. American 3-17 Army 21-23 Bucknell 33-28 Colgate 28-22 Holy Cross 7-40 Lehigh 40-31 Navy 18-31 TOTAL 150-192 HOOPS FOR HOPE: Members of the Lafayette women's basketball team hosted a charity shoot-a-thon called Hoops for Hope on Sept. 28 at Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards hosted the event in honor of two of the team's off-court heroes--Kasey Keenan and Lauren Loose, daughter of Lafayette football defensive coordinator John Loose. All proceeds from the event went directly to two pediatric cancer foundations--Kasey's Krusaders and Lauren's First and Goal. LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the 13th straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. This winter, 10 of Lafayette's women's basketball games will be televised during the 2008-09 season, with the possibility of three more games being added during the three rounds of the Patriot League Tournament in March. All 10 telecasts will be produced by the Lafayette Sports Network (LSN), which annually produces the most expansive and highest quality television packages in the Patriot League. Each of those broadcasts will air live regionally to more than 10 million viewers on RCN-4 and WBPH-60. As an element of Lafayette's long-term multi-media agreement with CSTV, all LSN telecasts are streamed live on the internet and available worldwide through LSN All-Access on GoLeopards.com. Lafayette was the first of the CSTV.com partners to make live video streaming available to fans everywhere when the 2000 Lafayette-Lehigh football game aired live on GoLeopards.com Emmy-nominated local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach will handle all of the Leopards' play-by-play duties for the 12th straight season. Former Lafayette men's basketball coach John Leone will provide color analysis for the 11th season. In his eighth year as a member of the announcing crew is RCN's Dan Mowdy, who will report on the Leopards from the sideline.
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