Jan. 14, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
PHILADELPHIA – In its conference home opener and on Elementary School Day, La Salle Women’s Basketball looked to even its Atlantic 10 record, but an early 10-0 second-half run by Richmond put the Spiders ahead for good, and the Explorers fell at Tom Gola Arena, 67-48, Wednesday afternoon.
Senior Margaret Elderton scored a team-best 14 points and was one point shy of tying for game-high honors. Elderton, who went 5-for-9 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, pulled down three rebounds and distributed a team-high tying two assists, as well.
After a turnover and two missed shots by freshman Samantha Bilney on the first three Richmond possessions, Elderton ran the open floor and scored the first bucket of the game.
At the 17:05 mark, sophomore Brittani Shells put the Spiders on the board with a three-pointer which ignited a 10-2 run capped off by junior Nikita Thomas’ layup to give her team a 10-4 lead. Thomas led all scorers with 15 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, and grabbed six boards.
Trailing by as many as seven, the Explorers rattled off 11 straight points to give them a four-point lead with 5:37 remaining before the break at 22-18. The first nine points of that run came off of three consecutive three pointers courtesy of junior Morgan Robertson, sophomore Ashley Gale and junior Jamie Walsh. Gale followed up Elderton’s team-high with nine points, on 2-of-7 shooting.
With the game knotted at 26, Thomas hit a jumper with two seconds remaining in the first half to give Richmond the go-ahead basket at the midway point, 28-26. Ironically, as it has gone this season, La Salle is 8-2 when scoring the last points before intermission, and now, the Explorers are 1-6 when their opposition does.
It was a one possession game with 15:42 remaining in regulation, 34-31, when a Shells jumper sparked that 10-0 run, which put the Spiders ahead for good. Shells was one point shy of double figures, ending with nine points, on 3-of-10 shooting, in addition to four rebounds, three assists and a game-high tying three steals. Junior Danielle Bell, who scored a season-high 19 points in a win over George Washington on Saturday, also ended with nine points and three steals.
Richmond (14-3, 2-0 A-10) extended its lead to as many as 21 with 6:21 to go, but the Explorers answered back, reeling off seven straight points to close their deficit to within 57-43. However, the Spiders pushed their lead back to 20 to secure their fourth straight win over the Explorers.
Freshman Nadia Duncan led La Salle’s bench in scoring with seven points and Robertson finished with five points and four rebounds.
Freshman Abby Oliver was the second leading scorer for Richmond with 10 points, on 4-of-9 shooting, including two three-pointers. Bilney dished out a game-high five assists and also pulled down seven rebounds.
After forcing 20 La Salle turnovers which resulted in a 29-13 advantage in points off turnovers, Richmond has now recorded three straight games with at least 20 forced turnovers dating back to their 45-33 win over No. 25 Wake Forest.
La Salle (9-8, 0-2 A-10) completes its two-game homestand on Saturday when the Explorers will host the Saint Louis Billikins at 1 PM.
