Dec. 13, 2009
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Jamie Walsh scored a game-high 17 points - tying Delaware's Elena Delle Donne - however a late Blue Hen run dashed the hopes of another La Salle Women's Basketball come-back victory as Delaware takes the non-conference contest at the Bob Carpenter Center Sunday afternoon, 54-46.
Walsh knocked down a season-high five three-point baskets for La Salle, one shy of her career-high, and her fourth of the contest with 6:44 left in the game had pulled the Explorers to within two, 39-37, after trailing by as many as 12 in the first half.
Delaware's Tesia Harris, who scored 16 points, responded with five straight and Jocelyn Bailey added two of her eight points at the 3:58 mark and the home team was back up by nine.
Tara Lapetina cut the deficit to six after knocking down one of La Salle's season-high 10 threes in the game on its next possession.
The Explorers set a school record with 190 made threes last season, but started the season slow with just 21 in their first seven games. They have now hit 18 in their last two.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, Delle Donne would hit a bucket with the shot clock winding down - only her second basket of the second half - but it proved costly.
Delaware (6-3) would shoot a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final minute, despite shooting 6-of-13 the rest of the game, to seal the win.
La Salle held Delle Donne to her lowest output of the season, seven points below her average, and 3-of-14 shooting from the floor and eight points over the last 33 minutes of the game; she played 39.
It was that first 6:02 however that she helped her team to a lead they would never relinquish. She scored the game's first seven points - a pair of threes and a free throw - and after a Walsh three, she made her third straight shot to put the Blue Hens up 9-3 with 13:58 left in the first half.
The rest of the team - Harris, two baskets; Jaquetta May, one; Lauren Carra, one; and Bailey, one - helped the Blue Hens increase their lead to the largest of the game at 12, 21-9, with 3:41 left before intermission.
Danielle Callahan and Lapetina would each hit a three-point bucket in the span, but Delaware would take that double-figure lead into the break.
La Salle (2-7) was able to chip its deficit down to five twice - after Antonia Gale hit a pair of free throws at the 16:02 mark (29-24) and when her sister Ashley Gale hit a three with 12:04 left in the game to make it 32-27.
However, Delle Donne scored her only other points of the second half on a three-point play - basket and foul shot - to put the Blue Hens back up eight.
It was still an eight-point deficit with 9:54 left, but that was when the Explorers made their final push. An 8-2 run pulled them to within a basket, as Nadia Duncan scored a basket in between a pair of Walsh threes.
Duncan scored six points to go with five rebounds, while Ashley Gale had eight points, six rebounds, a career-high five assists, and two steals. Morgan Robertson led all players with a game-high nine boards.
The Explorers will take another week off before heading up to Rider for a 2 PM game next Sunday.
