Jan. 30, 2010

Box Score

BRONX, NY - La Salle Women's Basketball was outscored by 16 points from the foul line and lost to Fordham, 57-47, Saturday afternoon in Atlantic 10 Conference action at Tom Gola Arena.

The hosts shot 19-of-23 from the free throw line, which did include 10-of-11 in the final five minutes of the contest, however the Explorers went to the line just three times and were 3-of-5.

No Explorer reached double figures, but Tara Lapetina led La Salle with nine points, Jamie Walsh added eight, Chelsea Conner had seven and Morgan Robertson had six and seven rebounds.

The Rams started the game with the first seven points, as Tiffany Stokes hit a pair of baskets and Becky Peters banked in a three-point shot. She ended the game with 11 points and five rebounds.

Through the first nine minutes of the contest, La Salle managed just a Conner three-point play at the 15:10 mark. However, when Ebonee Jones scored on a driving lay-up with 10:52 left in the half, the Explorers trailed by just two, 7-5.

La Salle's bench, which coming in averaged 24.8% of the offense at 12.8 points per game, scored the team's first seven points and 18 in the game. That including a bucket by Danielle Callahan, before Walsh tied the game at nines with just under nine minutes left before the break.

Fordham (8-14, 2-5 A-10) reclaimed its lead thanks to Randall Hurst, who scored five of her game-high 20 in a 7-2 run. Her free throw with 1:50 before intermission gave the Rams a 20-15 edge.

Conner, who scored a team-high seven points in the first, made it a three-point game with a baseline jumper and Lapetina tied the game with a buzzer-beating three from just inside half court.

In the first half, the Rams held a 24-12 advantage on the glass and pulled down 10 offensive rebounds, which they turned into nine second-chance points.

The Explorer starters, held to just nine points in the first, scored eight points in a 3:20 span to start the second, and when Antonia Gale pulled down an offensive board and put it in, La Salle led 28-24.

Fordham answered with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes and, after a Robertson basket, scored five straight to take its largest lead to that point of the game at eight, 39-31.   

La Salle (5-17, 0-7 A-10) whittled its deficit down to three (45-42) after another Lapetina three with just over five minutes left in the game. However, they were held to just two baskets the rest of the way as the Rams made those free throws to secure their win.

The Explorers will take a week off before hosting Temple on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 12 PM, as part of Alumnae Day at Tom Gola Arena.