Meghan Ahl started an Explorer 19-4 run in the second half.

Carlene Hightower reached double figures for the fourth straight game.

Crista Ricketts returned to the court and scored 10 points.

Jenna Graber's three pointer with 2:43 left almost sealed the win for La Salle.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - After starting the Atlantic 10 slate 6-1, the La Salle University Women's Basketball team was in the midst of a three-game losing streak. However, with the help of senior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy), the Explorers ended the skid with a 62-50 victory over visiting Dayton in Tom Gola Arena, Friday night.

 

Payne, who was recently named the Big 5 Player of the Week after matching her season-high of 24 points and grabbing nine boards in a loss at Saint Louis, again hit the 20+ point mark, scoring 21 points and again collecting nine rebounds. She shot 6-of-10 from the floor, hit 3-of-3 from three-point land and was 6-of-7 from the foul line.

 

She opened the game with a three pointer and after the Flyers tied the game at 5-5, La Salle slowly built a 14-point lead by the 7:31 mark of the first half. Payne hit a jumper, scored an old-fashion three - lay-up and foul shot, and then hit a pair of threes, her second putting La Salle up 27-13.

 

Dayton (15-7, 7-4 A-10) was still down 10 with 4:33 left, but held the Explorers scoreless for the rest of the half and closed with a 9-0 run. Jennifer Strong scored four points in the stretch as the Flyers trailed by just one (35-34) heading into intermission.

 

After the break, the Flyers scored eight of the next 12 points and when Kiki Lund scored with 13:31 left in the game, Dayton held its largest lead of the game at 42-39.

 

La Salle (11-11, 7-4 A-10) would hold the Flyers to just four made free throws over the next nine minutes and would take command of the game with a 19-4 run with many players contributing on both ends of the floor.

 

Sophomore Meghan Ahl (Bronx, NY/Preston), who played the final 14 minutes of the second half, started the Explorer comeback with a driving lay-up and also added two defensive boards.  

 

Junior Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) also scored on a lay-up, giving the Explorers a 43-42 lead that it would never relinquish.  Payne scored six in the run and when sophomore Carlene Hightower (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Prendergast) finished off a three-point play with a made free throw, La Salle led 58-46 with 4:52.

 

Dayton's Angela Cape cut the Explorer lead back to 10 with a basket with 4:04 left, which was about the same deficit at about the same point in the first half. However, any chance of a Dayton comeback was squashed when, with the shot clock winding down, junior Jenna Graber (Clarksburg, NJ/Peddie School) connected on her third three-point basket putting La Salle up 61-48 with just 2:43 left.

 

The Flyers would score just one more basket, by Strong, her team-high 20^th point of the night, with three seconds left in the game. She was the only Dayton player to reach double figures as the Explorers held Cara Wright, who averages 16.0 points per game to just six points. She did however add 13 boards and seven blocks.

 

Hightower reached double figures for the fourth straight game, scoring 13 points and adding six boards and three assists, while Ricketts chipped in 10 points.

 

La Salle now jumps back into the think of things in terms of the Atlantic 10 Tournament's first-round byes. The top four teams get a bye and the Explorers are now tied for the fourth spot at 7-4 with Dayton and Saint Joseph's, but own the tie-breakers over both teams. Charlotte (10-1 A-10) and George Washington and Temple (both 9-2) hold spots one through three.

 

The Explorers return to Atlantic 10 action Sunday afternoon, when they host Xavier at Tom Gola Arena at 1 PM.