Dec. 1, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA - Despite a career-high 18 points from Antonia Gale, La Salle Women's Basketball could not recover from an early deficit and fell to the visiting Georgetown Hoyas Tuesday night in non-conference action at Tom Gola Arena.

Gale hit 3-of-5 shots from the floor while making a career-high 11 shots from the free throw line. She added eight rebounds, one shy of her career high, and two assists in 30 minutes of action.

However, the Explorers shot just 35% from the floor in the game, and turned the ball over 36 times which translated into 41 Hoya points. They also outscored La Salle 30-8 in points in the paint.

Georgetown jumped out to an early 11-point lead as Rubylee Wright scored the team's first five points. It was Latia Magee's turn to score five, and after Jaleesa Butler scored on a short jumper at the 12:14 mark of the first, the Hoyas led 12-1.

La Salle turned the ball over eight times and opened the game 0-for-5 from the floor on its first 14 possessions. The only points for the Explorers in the 8:38 span before their first basket - a Nadia Duncan lay-up - was one made Morgan Robertson free throw.

Duncan would score on another lay-up and Robertson would knock down a pair of foul shots to pull La Salle to within seven (14-7) with 9:14 left before the break. It was seven again after a Robertson jumper, but six straight Hoya points pushed the Explorer deficit back to double figures.

In the first half, the Explorers scored 19 points, thanks in part to 9-of-10 from the free throw line with their last six points of the first scored from the charity stripe. They also turned the ball over 19 times and the Hoyas scored 19 of their 29 first-half points off those.

However, with 16:30 left in the game, Gale drained La Salle's first three of the night to pull the Explorers to within eight at 32-24. It was a 10-point deficit (36-26) when Gale scored on a fast-break lay-up just two minutes later.

Georgetown (6-2), however, responded with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes to push its lead to 22 - as Sugar Rodgers scored eight of her team-high 17 points in the stretch and the Explorers would get no closer than 20 the rest of the way.

The Hoyas had two other players in double figures, Wright with 15 and Magee with 13, who added team-highs with seven rebounds and six assists.

La Salle (1-6) would see Robertson finish with seven points and eight rebounds, while Jamie Walsh also scored seven.

The team returns to the court on Saturday to face the Dragons at Drexel, starting at 1 PM.