Feb. 27, 2009
La Salle Explorers @ Massachusetts Minutewomen
Date: Saturday, February 28
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Mullins Center
Game: Conference
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La Salle Explorers (10-18, 1-12)
Conference: Atlantic 10
The La Salle Explorers wrap up the 2008-09 regular season on the road Saturday afternoon when they take on the hosting Massachusetts Minutewomen. On Senior Night Wednesday, the Explorers led Duquesne 32-22 at halftime, but a 10-0 Dukes run at the start of the second half knotted everything up at 32. The Dukes, who were up by as many as 20 points in the second half, went on to win by a score of 66-51. Fittingly, in the final home game of the season, senior Margaret Elderton, who was honored prior to tip-off as the only senior on the team, netted a game-high 19 points, pulled down a team-high tying seven rebounds and dished out two assists. Elderton, who scored 16 of her19 points in the first half, was one of the primary reasons the Explorers controlled the tempo during the first 20 minutes of the game. Junior Jamie Walsh hit a game-high four three-pointers, ending with 15 points, while dishing out a game-high six assists. Junior Morgan Robertson was just shy of compiling another double-double as she finished with seven points and seven boards and junior Antonia Gale led La Salle’s bench with six points. The Explorers attacked the glass on Wednesday and their hard work around the boards led them to outrebound Duquesne, 37-36.
Massachusetts Minutewomen (11-17, 4-9)
Conference: Atlantic 10
After La Salle honored their senior on Wednesday night, the Massachusetts Minutewomen will do the same Saturday afternoon as they host the Explorers. UMass has lost three of their last four games with the most recent one coming on Wednesday at the Palestra against Saint Joseph’s, 77-63. Despite the loss, senior Sakera Young poured in a game and career-high 23 points, marking her second 20-point game of her career, and junior Kim Benton set a career-high as well with six rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Diatiema Hill tallied eight points and also finished the contest with a team-high three assists. UMass outscoured the Hawks in the paint, 34-32, but could not dominate in points off turnovers (25-6), fastbreak points (14-4) or bench points (22-6). In the loss, the Minutewomen shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half and ended the game on 45.1 percent shooting. Massachusetts is converting 6.4 three-pointers per game, however, they are turning the ball over 19.0 times per contest.
Eye on an Explorer: Jamie Walsh
In the last three games, junior Jamie Walsh has scored in double figures, which includes her team-high 11 points against Dayton and her team-high tying 11 against #17/16 Xavier. On the season, Walsh is just shy of a double-digit scoring average at 9.8 points per game and currently ranks second in field goal percentage (.384). She is also second on the team in three-point percentage (.394) while making 2.2 three-pointers per game.
Key Matchup: Margaret Elderton vs. Stefanie Gerardot
After scoring a game-high 19 points on Wednesday against the reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Kristi Little, La Salle senior Margaret Elderton will matchup with Massachusetts senior Stefanie Gerardot in the backcourt on Saturday. In a home match against Massachusetts last season, Elderton went on to set a Tom Gola Arena record with a career-high 32 points. She is ranked second on the team in scoring (11.3) and first in assists per game (3.4). In the first game of the season, Gerardot scored a career-high 29 points at Vermont and then followed that performance up with 24 against Manhattan in the very next game. Gerardot is posting averages of 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists.
