Washington, D.C. - The Explorers lost another close one at the Smith Center on the campus of the George Washington University as the fell to the Hawks 56-50 in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament.
The Explorers trailed the entire game, but did not allow the Hawks to walk away with the victory. Saint Joseph's took its biggest lead of the game with 13:11 left in the second period when the Hawks were up 40-30. La Salle then went on a 15-6 run and brought the game to within one, 46-45, with 4:46 remaining.
The score did not change from the 4:46 mark until the 3:02 mark when the Hawks began to rebuild their lead. Saint Joseph's rattled off five straight points to go back up by six with one minute left.
La Salle did not back down as sophomore Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) made back to back free throws followed by a three point bucket out of junior Shaune McLaughlin (Somers Point, NJ/Mainland Regional) to bring the Explorers to within two points, 52-50, with 22 ticks left on the clock.
The Explorers played tough defense and the Hawks looked to be in trouble when La Salle junior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) nearly stole the ball, but stepped out of bounds. The Hawks then rattled off four straight free throws and will advance to the second round of the tournament where they will play Temple at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 5th.
La Salle saw the return of Ricketts, who sat out the last three games of the regular season, and she led the Explorers with 14 points. Payne and senior Jill Marano (Crofton, MD/Arundel) both added 10 points a piece and McLaughlin chipped in seven. Freshman Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) led the Explorers in rebounds with seven.
La Salle finishes the season 12-16 overall and 6-10 in the conference and will graduate seniors Meghan Wilkinson (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) who led the team in assists with four, as well as Marano and Monica Garrido-Sanz (Majadahonda, Spain/C.B. Majadahonda).
