The women's basketball team won its second consecutive game to start its season, dropping the Lafayette Leopards 60-54.
In a back and forth game, the Pirates followed the lead of guard Brittany Morris. The senior made her presence felt in more ways than one on the court, leading the team with 23 points and four assists.
Lafayette, who came into the game with one win as well, jumped out to an early lead. The Leopards relied on juniors Danielle Fiacco and Madeline Fahan most of the game, and the duo did not disappoint.
Fiacco, the 6-foot-7 center, put up 13 points, 10 rebounds, while blocking six shots. Fahan was involved most of the game, but the Pirates' defense kept her in check as she only scored seven points.
Playing a zone defense, the Leopards gave their opponents some trouble, but head coach Anne Donovan and her team adjusted accordingly.
Morris was one of the main contributors as she used her quickness to cut up the Lafayette 2-3 zone. Freshman Tabatha Richardson-Smith was the other sharp shooter for the Hall, scoring 15 points.
The highlight of the first half came in the closing seconds as Brittany Morris drove the length of the court with a defender glued to her side and drained a floater from 15 feet to put the Pirates up 31-25.
The start of the second half looked identical to the beginning of the game, as the Pirates went seven straight possessions without points. During the early half struggles, Lafayette was able to jump out to a one point lead, but Morris immediately answered, draining a 3-pointer that ended up being the beginning of the end for the Leopards.
From there, the Pirates began to attack the basket, forcing fouls from Fiacco and the rest of the Leopards. Late in the game the team took full advantage of their free throws, going 6-7 from the charity stripe.
With just two minutes to go, Lafayette made one final run making two straight 3-pointers to cut the lead to two, but it was too little too late.
Donovan took a time out to gather her team and stress the importance of closing out a non-conference game.
"We move forward," Donovan said. "We still had the lead at that point. They made two great shots from the outside. We had a little bit of a break down, but we have to focus on the next possession, which we did."
Morris echoed her coach when talking about the teams overall performance.
"We did have some breakdowns, but we stressed effort," Morris said. "This year we're showing that we are giving that effort to get over the hump and get the win.
The early home-court advantage is something that Morris sees as an important aspect to success later in the Pirates' season.
"These home games gives us confidence and give us momentum to go on the road," Morris said. "We're definitely excited to play on our home court."
Donovan said that she is impressed with the "fight" the Pirates showed in their first two games of the season.
"I really like what I see," Donovan said. "We have other people stepping up. We have good balance this year and I don't know if that was the case last year. I like the fight that I see."
The Pirates look to make it three straight wins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on the Temple Owls.
Kenny Lenoci can be reached at Kenneth.lenoci@student.shu.edu.
