March 1, 2008

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, PA - As the Explorers stepped on the court Saturday night at Duquesne, they knew exactly where they stood. A win and the La Salle University Women's Basketball team would be the nine seed and face Saint Bonaventure in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships at 12 PM on Friday, a loss and their season was over.

So, they picked the wrong time to register their lowest output in a first half (17 points) this season, their second-worst shooting percentage in the first half (25.0%) this season, and have a scoreless drought of more than 12 minutes (spanning the break), which all resulted in a 62-35 loss to host Duquesne.

The Dukes jumped up early at 8-4 after a Keri Prior three, but the Explorers responded with a Jamie Walsh three, and a driving lay-up by Carlene Hightower gave them a one-point lead 5:19 into the game.

Duquesne (15-14, 6-8 A-10) answered with a 13-2 run over a seven-minute span, which included back-to-back threes by Kelly Britcher and Prior, and they took a 10-point lead (21-11) with 8:40 left before the break.

Ashley Gale stopped a Dukes' 9-0 run with a driving lay-up, and the Explorers would keep Duquesne off the boards for four minutes as they cut their deficit to four with 5:10 left before intermission on a Morgan Robertson jumper.

Kristi Little broke the Explorer run with a steal and fast-break lay-up at the 4:19 mark to give the Dukes a 23-17 lead, but that would be all the scoring for either team before they headed into the locker rooms.

La Salle's scoreless drought would continue into the second half, before Margaret Elderton knocked down a three with just over 13 minutes left in the game. By that point, the Dukes had built a double-figure lead, which they increased to 19 (39-20) after a Prior basket.

The Explorers would score five straight points - a Hightower basket and a three-point play by Melanie Gibbons - to get the deficit down to 14, but a 10-0 run by the Dukes pushed their lead to 24 and La Salle would never get closer than 19 the rest of the way.

Hightower scored a game-high 12 points, while Walsh added eight points and Robertson grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Jade Singleton had a double-double for Duquesne, 12 points, 13 rebounds, while Little had 12 points and seven assists.

La Salle ends its season 12-17, 4-10 in the A-10 Conference.