Dec. 3, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD – La Salle Women's Basketball set a record for most three-point shots made in a game and, despite being down by 13 with less than two minutes in the game, had a chance to pull out a victory.

However, the team's shot just before the buzzer was unsuccessful and Morgan State held on for a 71-70 victory Wednesday evening in non-conference action at Hill Field House.

Morgan Robertson again registered a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Margaret Elderton matched her 16 points and added five assists and three steals. Ashley Gale (14) and Jamie Walsh (12) were in double figures in scoring for the third straight game, and added four assists each, but it was not enough for a win.

The Explorers used a pair of 9-0 runs through the game’s first eight minutes to take its largest lead of the first half at 10. The first was all on three-point baskets, as Elderton, Walsh, and Gale all connected from behind the line to put La Salle up 9-2 2:15 into the contest

After Morgan State scored six straight points, La Salle again scored nine straight, capped by another Elderton three with 12:20 left in the first to give the Explorers an 18-8 lead.

The teams traded threes, and then the Bears began to claw their way back into the contest. A 5-0 run was stopped by a Robertson fast-break lay-up, and then another 5-0 run pulled them to within two at 23-21 after Corin Adams knocked down a three.

The next three La Salle made baskets were threes – by Ashley and Antonia Gale, and Walsh – which pushed the Explorer lead back to five at 32-27, but the Bears would not go away.

Morgan State (6-1) responded with a 10-1 run over the next 2:12, which was started by back-to-back baskets by Stacy Hunt, and after Mahala Thomas knocked down a three with 2:33 left, the Bears led by four, 37-33.

La Salle held them scoreless the rest of the half and went into the locker rooms scoring seven straight points to take a 40-37 lead after Elderton hit a running back-shot just before the buzzer.

The Bears opened the second with a 15-3 burst, which included an 11-0 run over a three-minute stretch to take a nine-point lead at 52-43.

It was now the Explorers turn to play catch-up, and they were able to cut their deficit to four – 56-52 - after Walsh connected on a three with just over 12 minutes left in regulation.

The make was La Salle’s 12th three pointer of the night, which broke the school’s single game record of 11 makes done five times, last versus Fordham on Jan. 9, 2007.

However, the Bears used a 13-4 run from that point until the four- minute mark to take its largest lead of the game at 13 on a Brittany Dodson lay-up, then after Theresa Davis lay-up with 2:04 remaining, they were still up 13 at 71-58, which all but seemed to put the game away.

However, Walsh began an Explorer run of 12 straight points with a three pointer that had them to within one, 71-70, with seven seconds left.

They had to commit three straight fouls to get the Bears into a 1-and-1 situation, and Hunt stepped to the line with four seconds left. She missed her first attempt and Elderton snagged the rebound and dribbled up court. But unlike in the first half, when she was able to get a basket before the buzzer, her shot attempt was blocked by Adams and the Bears held on for the win.

La Salle (4-4) returns home for two straight at Tom Gola Arena starting with a game against Binghamton on Saturday at 1 PM.