RICHMOND, VA - Sophomore Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) hit a 15-foot jumper with 3.7 seconds left to lift the La Salle University Women's Basketball team to a 59-58 victory over the host Richmond Spiders in Atlantic 10 action Friday night at the Robins Center.

 

Leading for most of the game, La Salle would fall behind by as many as six points (58-52) with less than two minutes to go, but showed resolve to get the chance for the winning basket.

 

La Salle (5-7, 2-0 A-10) got a basket from senior Shaune McLaughlin (Somers Point, NJ/Mainland Regional), then a three-pointer by junior Jenna Graber (Clarksburg, NJ/Peddie School) which would cut the deficit to one. A missed shot by the Spiders Saona Chapman gave La Salle a chance for the win, which Hightower made good on.

 

For the Explorers, it is the first time they have won back-to-back road games since 2003. That was also the last season that the Explorers started the A-10 slate 2-0. It was also the first time that the Explorers have beaten the Spiders in the Robins Center - lost first four.

 

La Salle jumped out to an early 10-point lead at 14-4, thanks in part to Hightower, who scored seven points in the games' first seven minutes, which included her first career three-point basket.

 

Richmond (6-8, 1-1 A-10) relied on Mirna Mazic and Kelly Roche to try and get them back into the game. The Spiders cut the Explorer lead down to four points, 22-18, with 4:48 left in the first half, as Mazic scored seven points and Roche five.

 

McLaughlin would push the lead up to seven with a three-pointer and when junior Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) hit a basket just before the buzzer, it capped an Explorer 12-4 run to end the first half and gave La Salle a 34-22 halftime advantage.

 

After the break, the Spiders would hold La Salle to just one field goal through the first 13 minutes as they again made a run to get back into the game. Mazic scored 10 points, while Tanja Miranovic had five to get them to within a point.

 

La Salle would score eight points from the free throw line to keep pace with the Spider run, but Kelly Roche's three-pointer with 4:12 left in the game gave Richmond its first lead since the first two minutes of the game.

 

Graber would tie the game back up at 49-49 with a three, but Mazic hit two field goals to push the Spider lead to four points.

 

However, her foul shooting is what doomed the Spiders, as she missed two critical free throws down the stretch. She was 4-of-14 from the line on the night. She finished the night with 30 points, the first time La Salle has allowed a 30+ point scorer in six years (Brianne Stepherson, Boston College, 31, 12/22/99).

 

The Explorers had a balanced attack as McLaughlin scored 12, and Graber and senior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) added 11 each. Payne also added 10 rebounds - her first double-double of the season - and five assists.