Help Wanted

Many successful basketball programs have two or three great players that they build the team around – the San Antonio Spurs won two championships with teams built around David Robinson and Tim Duncan, the “Twin Towers.” 

The Lafayette women’s basketball team has two such players in Danielle Fiacco ‘14 and Emily Homan ‘15, two frontcourt rocks that consistently deliver. But seven games into the season and with just two wins to show, it is apparent that Lafayette needs more consistent production from their guards to frequently win. 

Since their season-opening win against Loyola-Chicago, the Leopards have gone 1-5 – three losses against major out of conference opponents Seton Hall, Villanova, and No. 6 Rutgers, and two against beatable opponents, Monmouth and Rider. 

The Leopards snuck in a 19-point win against Wagner in the middle of the skid, but have largely been struggling. 

“You can’t dwell on the past,” Fiacco said. “We need to learn from our mistakes and use those experiences to make ourselves better in our next games.”

Fiacco and Homan lead the team in several categories. Fiacco has already posted four double-doubles, has blocked a team-high 29 shots, and has led the team in rebounds for six games. Homan has led the team in scoring a team-high of three times, and that’s after missing several games due to injury. Combined, the duo accounts for almost 40% of the team’s scoring.

Through the first seven games, there have been eight instances in which a Lafayette player has scored in double digits – six of which came from the duo. Starting to get the trend here? 

The other two players with double digit games were Madeline Fahan ‘14 with 16 points in the season-opening win against Loyola-Chicago and Brya Freeland ’15, who dropped 16 in the win over Wagner. But no player besides Fiacco or Homan have scored in double digits in Lafayette’s five loses. 

Logic demands that this is no coincidence. 

“We need to find more balanced scoring, which is happening in the last few games,” Coach Dianne Nolan said. “More people are stepping up and we are connecting from the three-point line.”

When asked which players would be most crucial to the Leopards’ future success, Nolan responded, “I think you could say our lead guards: Brya, Jamie [O’Hare ‘16], and Maddie [Peabody ‘15].”

She added, “It’s time to shine for the Leopards.”

The next three-game stretch will be as challenging as the Seton Hall/Villanova/Penn State stretch, with the Leopards taking on Pittsburgh, Saint Joseph’s, and #15 Ohio State. The gauntlet begins Saturday at home against the Panthers.