Feb. 7, 2009
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle Women's Basketball - for the sixth time this conference season - had the ball in the final minute with the game on the line. In Saturday's contest at Tom Gola Arena against Fordham, the Explorers had the ball down three, but their shot at the end was no good and the Rams notched the 48-45 victory.
Morgan Robertson registered her 10th double-double of the season in the loss, with game-highs in points (15) and rebounds (16). The 10 are the second-most in the conference this season (Ta'Shia Phillips, Xavier, 12), and her four in conference play are tied for first. Lastly, she now ties Chrissie Donahue (1996,-97, 10) for the most double-doubles by an Explorer while La Salle has been a member of the A-10.
Margaret Elderton, who was the only other Explorer in double figures on the day with 11 points, sparked La Salle to a 12-5 lead just 4:20 in. She scored on a driving lay-up to open the game, then dished to Jenna Gilbert for a three on the next possession.
She then responded to Fordham's first basket - a Becky Peters' three - with one of her own, and after Gilbert scored on a lay-up and Kristina Bell tallied for the Rams, Elderton knocked down two free throws to give La Salle its largest lead of the game at seven points.
It took La Salle almost 20 minutes to score its next 12 points - an Ashley Gale three-point play with 15:46 left in the second half - which pulled the team to within one (25-24).
Over that span, Fordham slowly chipped away at the Explorer lead and held them scoreless for extended periods - three minutes, four minutes, and five minutes - the last, the Rams used an 8-0 run to take a 21-17 lead.
Fordham (8-15, 1-7 A-10) took a 23-19 lead into the break and held its largest lead of four, four times, the last with 12:29 left in the game (28-24).
That is when La Salle's offense started to click - with Robertson and Elderton scoring on six of its next eight trips down the court. Robertson made it a one-point game (28-27) after a driving lay-up and a free throw and Elderton answered Ram baskets with a pair of lay-ups of her own - the second with 9:41 left made it a one-point game again (32-31).
Robertson then scored eight straight Explorer points - on a lay-up - which gave La Salle a 33-32 lead - two made foul shots, another lay-up, and another pair of converted free throws. The last, with 6:23 left, put La Salle up for the last time 39-37.
The Rams responded with back-to-back three pointers by Kyara Weekes and Annie Zopf, who had a team-high tying 11 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
La Salle answered with a Jamie Walsh three, her first of the game, to pull the team back to within one (43-42) with 2:45 remaining.
However, the Rams' Randall Hurst scored her 11th point of the game on an offensive put back - off her seventh board of the contest - to put Fordham back up three with 2:10 left.
The teams traded missed shots before Gale knocked down her only three of the game to tie the score at 45-all with just over a minute left on the clock.
It was Peters, though, who would give the Rams a two-point lead 30 seconds later and was on the line with 14 seconds with a chance to seal the Fordham win. Her first shot put her in double figures with 10 points, but she missed the second giving La Salle a shot to send the game into overtime - a common theme throughout its A-10 season.
Walsh - who has hit two threes in the last three weeks to tie games late (versus Saint Louis Jan. 17 as time expired to send the game into overtime and versus George Washington Jan. 31 with 27 seconds left) - could not get today's to fall and Fordham walked away with the victory.
La Salle (10-13, 1-7 A-10) has played 12 games this season decided in the game's final minute or overtime, and the Explorers are 5-7, but just 1-5 in A-10 contests.
They will try to end their current three-game slide and win a share of the Big 5 Title (with Temple) when they take on Saint Joseph's on Wednesday at 7:30 PM, a game being played at Drexel.
