Jan. 15, 2011
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Four Explorers hit double figures in scoring as the women's basketball team won its first Atlantic 10 game of the season, defeating Saint Louis 82-77 on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.
Senior Ashley Gale led La Salle with 21 points, sophomore Alexis Scott netted a season-high 20 points, senior Chelsea Conner added a career-high 15 points, as well as a career-high four blocks, and Nadia Duncan had 11 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.
"I thought it was a total team effort out there," said first-year Head Coach Jeff Williams, who picked up his first A-10 victory at the helm. "We played well. We usually shoot well at home."
La Salle shot .431 for the game, just off the season-high .464 that the team hit at home against Tulsa on December 5.
Neither team could get their offense going at the start of the game. Saint Louis' Janisha Gearlds opened scoring with a pair of free throws nearly four minutes into the contest.
Duncan propelled the Explorers to a 27-16 lead with 7:07 left in the first half after contributing eight points during a 12-2 La Salle run. Duncan would add ten points in the first half in her ten minutes of play.
Saint Louis' Lauren Woods narrowed the lead to five at 40-35 at the break after hitting a three-pointer with 32 seconds to play.
The Explorers never gave up their lead in the second half. The Billikens threatened with just over six minutes remaining by getting within three at 63-60 after a jumper by Gearlds.
La Salle responded with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 12, the largest margin of the game, with 4:19 remaining. Scott, playing in her second game since sustaining an injury during a November 22 contest against Oral Roberts, capped the run by making a pair from the charity stripe.
"Alexis has been huge for us," Williams said. "Having her out on the floor adds another scorer for us."
The contest wasn't quite over though. Woods made a trey with 26 seconds to go to cut La Salle's lead to four, but the Explorers closed out the win by hitting free throws.
La Salle is now 3-0 on the season when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
For the Billikens, Woods put up 22 points, while Jacy Bradley netted 18. Lorreal Jones added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Explorers will next travel to the Palestra on Wednesday to face Penn in their second Big 5 game of the season. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m.
