Philadelphia, PA - La Salle junior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) recorded her third 20-point performance in a row as the women's basketball team defeated the Duquesne Dukes 62-54 today, Sunday, February 20, 2005. Payne led all scorers with 25 points in the win, tying her career high.
The Explorers got out to a quick 7-0 lead and found themselves up 19-7 with 9:11 left in the period. The Dukes then went on an 11-0 run to bring the game to within one point with 5:55 left in the first half. Duquesne then took its first lead of the game when Brittany Warren laid in a basket putting her team up 24-23 with just under two minutes left in the first period.
La Salle scored just one point in the final five minutes of the half compared to nine by the Dukes, giving Duquesne a 27-24 lead at the intermission. Payne scored 12 of her 25 in the first half on 5-9 shooting. She finished the game 9-16 from the field.
The Dukes continued their run into the second half taking an eight point lead at the 18 minute mark. The Explorers then went on a 13-2 run to go back up 39-36 with 11:42 remaining in the game. There were then five different lead changes and the two teams tied the game five times in the next five minutes of action.
La Salle finally took the lead back with 3:31 left and despite getting to within one point the Dukes did not lead again. The free throw shooting of Payne, junior guard Shaune McLaughlin (Somers Point, NJ/Mainland Regional) and senior guard Jill Marano (Crofton, MD/Arundel) in the final minute put the game out of reach for the Dukes.
McLaughlin played all 40 minutes of action starting in place of senior Meghan Wilkinson (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) who sat out due to injury. McLaughlin tallied 11 points and tied her career high in rebounds with eight. Marano also scored in double figures as she netted 15 points, nine of which came from beyond the three point arc. She was 4-5 from the charity stripe, grabbed a game high four steals and dished out three assists. McLaughlin led all players with four assists.
Also starting for the Explorers was junior Lamera Ferguson (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham). Ferguson started in place of injured sophomore Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone). She dished out two assists and added two points in the win. Senior Monica Garrido-Sanz (Majadahonda, Spain/C.B. Majadahonda) tied McLaughlin with a team high eight rebounds, she also accumulated seven points. The only other Explorer to score was freshman Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast). She chipped in a bucket and had one of the Explorer's three blocks in the victory.
La Salle improves to 11-13 on the season and 5-9 in the conference with the victory. The Explorers will host Saint Joseph's University this Friday, February 25th for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. Seniors Wilkinson, Marano and Garrido-Sanz will be honored in a pre-game celebration as La Salle celebrates senior night.
