Lafayette Athletics issued the following on Jan. 3
Mountain Hawks Get Best of Leopards Sunday Afternoon
The Lafayette women's basketball team dropped the second game of the home-and-home opening weekend series to Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena.
Senior Drew Freeland led the way for the Leopards with 17 points. Senior Natalie Kucowski was right behind her with 15 points and 13 rebounds, marking her second double double of the season.
Sophomore Jess Booth recorded eight points on the afternoon while freshman Makayla Andrews recorded a career-high eight points in her second collegiate game. Freshman Ashley Evans pulled down three rebounds and dished out three assists in her collegiate debut.
It was a back-and-forth battle from the start. Lafayette (0-2) got on the board first off a Kucowski jumper fed to her by Booth. Lehigh (2-0) tied it up after a Leopards foul sent the Mountain Hawks to the line. From there the two traded the lead seven more times in the first half alone.
Heading into the second quarter down by four, senior Sydney Sabino drained her first three-pointer of the afternoon to pull the Leopards within one and a layup by junior Naomi Ganpo pushed the Leopards back into the lead.
With Lehigh holding a seven point lead with just a little over three minutes left in the half, Kucowski was fouled and sent to the line. She made both extra shots, following up with five more points to bring the Leopards within two under the two minute mark.
With the Mountain Hawks holding a three point lead seconds before halftime, Freeland threw a beautiful three from beyond the arc to beat the buzzer and tie up the game 37-37 heading into halftime.
Lehigh jumped out to a quick lead to start off the second half and never looked back, pushing its lead as far out to 17 with five minutes left in the game.
Freeland's three with just under two minutes to go, sparked the Leopards best run of the game. They put up 11 points in the final minute and a half of the game to cut the final deficit to eight, 73-65.
Kucowski's 15 points on the afternoon brings her career total to 1,215 points, putting her now 10th all-time in the Lafayette record books. Her two blocks brings her career blocking total to 201 and Freeland's four from beyond the arc puts her career total at 113 made three-pointers moving her into 8th all-time in the Lafayette record books.
The Leopards are back at home on Jan. 9 for a 2 p.m. tip-off for the first of the home-and-home weekend series against Bucknell.
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