Jenna Graber hit a career-high tying four three-point baskets.

Shaune McLaughlin scored 14 points and had eight assists.

Davineia Payne added 10 boards for the Explorers.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Junior Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) scored 12 second-half points to help the La Salle University Women's Basketball team turn a three-point halftime lead into an 18-point victory, 67-49, over Penn in Big 5 action Tuesday night at Tom Gola Arena.

 

Ricketts scored a game-high 16 points in the contest and added 10 rebounds, as she recorded her fifth double-double of the season, 13^th of her career. The victory pushed the Explorer win streak to five games, the longest since a five-game winning streak during the 2003-04 season.

 

After trading baskets to start the game, the Explorers used a 10-0 run sparked by two three-point baskets by junior Jenna Graber (Clarksburg, NJ/Peddie School) to take a 12-2 lead just five minutes into the contest.

 

Penn (3-13, 0-4 Big 5) responded with a few three pointers of its own. Carrie Biemer hit three and Kimberly Franklin made two in a Quaker 15-2 run over the next four minutes, which gave them a 17-14 advantage. The pair each finished with a team-high 13 points.

 

The Quakers hit just 10-of-26 shots in the first half, but six makes were from behind the three-point line, which kept them close to the Explorers in the opening half. After the break, though, Penn could only connect on 1-0f-9 from beyond the arc as La Salle slowly pulled away.

 

La Salle (10-8, 1-2 Big 5) opened a 10-point lead with 9:52 remaining in the game, but Penn quickly cut it back down to five. It was not until senior Shaune McLaughlin (Somers Point, NJ/Mainland Regional) hit a three pointer with 5:21 remaining that the Explorers built a double-digit lead that Penn would not get back under 10.

 

McLaughlin finished with 14 points, and was two assists shy of her first-ever double-double, as she added eight assists and four boards. Graber chipped in 12 points, tying her career-best with four three pointers.

 

Other Explorers enjoying the night were senior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy), who grabbed 10 boards, freshman Tara Lapetina (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Carroll), who hit 3-of-5 three-point baskets for nine points, and sophomores Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) - seven points, six boards, and  Melanie Gibbons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) - six points, five rebounds.

 

La Salle had 48 rebounds, a season-high, and held Penn to just 27. And in holding Penn to just 49 points, the Explorers have now allowed just 195 points in their last four games, the lowest output by La Salle opponents in a four-game stretch since the 1997-98 season (Dec. 9-29), when they allowed just 189 points.

The Explorers return to Atlantic 10 action Friday night, when they host Massachusetts at Tom Gola Arena at 7 PM