Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score
BRONX, NY - In a contest between a pair of teams looking for their first conference win of the season, the game came down to the final seconds at Rose Hill Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Morgan Robertson converted two foul shots for La Salle Women's Basketball with nine seconds left and Randall Hurst's offensive put-back was too late and the Explorers escaped with a 42-41 victory at Fordham.
Robertson finished with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, her ninth double-double of the season, while Jamie Walsh scored a game-high 16 points with three boards and three steals.
Despite leading by 11 at the 12:28 mark of the second half (28-17) after a Danielle Mickiewicz layup, the Explorers found themselves down two with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Walsh knocked down her fourth three-point basket of the afternoon from the top of the key to put her team back up one, but Fordham's Annie Zopf answered with her third three to give the Rams a 40-38 advantage.
La Salle missed a three on its next offensive series and Hurst was fouled on the other end. She made her first with 1:51 left, but missed her second. Eighteen seconds later, Robertson made two free throws to make it a one-point game, 41-40.
Both teams turned the ball over on their next possessions; the second was followed by an Explorer foul sending Kyara Weekes to the line for a one-and-one. She missed and the Explorers set up for their last shot.
Ashley Gale missed a short baseline jumper, but Robertson grabbed her third offensive board and went for a put-back and was fouled. So, for the second time this season, she went to the line with the game in her hands, and she calmly sank both to put La Salle up one.
Fordham pushed the ball up the court, and Becky Peters' shot from the baseline was long, but Hurst grabbed the rebound. She went back up with it, but her make was after the buzzer and the Rams dropped their 24th consecutive conference contest.
To open the game, the Explorers held Fordham to just a three-point basket through the first eight minutes and used an 8-0 run - four points by Robertson - and after Walsh turned a steal into a fast-break layup, they held their biggest lead of the first half at 10-3.
Walsh put La Salle up seven again at the 11:03 mark of the first half, but the Explorers went scoreless for the next nine minutes, missing 11 shots from the floor - six from three-point land - turning the ball over five times.
Fordham (7-13, 0-5 A-10), though, did not take full advantage of the span, scoring just six points with a driving layup by Becky Peters cutting their deficit to one at 12-11 with 3:25 left before the break. They were held without a point for almost six minutes during the stretch.
La Salle was able to break out of its shooting woes thanks to an offensive rebound from Walsh and a three from the corner. The Explorers closed out the half 3-of-4 from the field - the last two baskets from Margaret Elderton, which gave the Explorers a 19-13 lead heading into the locker rooms.
The shooting problems for both teams continued in the second half as well - La Salle shot 27.5% for the game and Fordham was at 30.6%. Even the Explorers free throw shooting, which was in the top 20 in the nation was off, as they went 9-for-14 (64.3%).
However, Robertson was 6-for-6 from the stripe, including the last four points of the afternoon. Against Lafayette (12/16), she also hit critical foul shots, as she went to the line with 33 seconds left with the score tied at 57-all. She hit that pair, as well, and La Salle won by four.
La Salle (10-10, 1-4 A-10) now heads back to Philadelphia and will play five straight games in the city, including three straight at Tom Gola Arena.
Additional Notes: Morgan Robertson's nine double-doubles are the most by an Explorer this decade and her 10 career are tied for the third-most by among players who ended their career this decade...La Salle is now 30-5 all-time against Fordham, but in A-10 play at Rose Hill they have struggled - just 6-2 with an average score of 62.5 to 57.4...Jamie Walsh has now hit 120 career three-point baskets, one shy of seventh all-time, while her 37.5% career mark is seventh...With their five threes today, the Explorers have hit 132 threes (6.6 per game) and are on pace (29 games) to hit 191 this season, shattering the team record of 166 set in 2005-06...La Salle entered the game 14th in the country in Free Throw Percentage (76.1%)...This is the second time this season the Explorers have scored less than 50 points and won (vs. Drexel, Nov. 22, 48-46) and the 42 points are the fewest in a La Salle win since Jan. 15, 1974, a 40-26 win over Penn State-Ogontz.
