Feb. 6, 2011

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Senior Ashley Gale became the 23rd member of the 1,000 point club as the Explorers defeated Fordham 69-54 on national television on Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.

Gale sunk a trey from the corner with 8:40 remaining in the game to break the 1,000 point mark.

The Glenside, Pa. native entered the game 21 career points shy of 1,000 and became the first Explorer to do so since Carlene Hightower notched her 1,000th point during the 2007-08 season.

“I’m just really excited about hitting my 1000th point,” Gale said. “It’s a blessing because I didn’t know how close I was until a few games ago.”

Gale finished the contest with a game-high 25 points and six rebounds.  Three other La Salle players hit double figures with sophomore Alexis Scott adding 14 and junior Nadia Duncan and sophomore Ebonee Jones each scoring 10 points.

Freshman Jess Koci added a game-high 13 rebounds and a career-high four steals.

In January, the Explorers lost a 69-54 decision to Fordham, but wound up on the right side of the score on their home court after shooting .406 from the field.

Scott gave La Salle the lead with a trey just over five minutes into the game and the Explorers wouldn’t trail for the remainder of the contest.

La Salle took control of the game with a 19-2 run to close out the last nine minutes of the first half and went into the break up 33-13.

13 points is the lowest single-half tally that the Explorers have held their opponents to all season.  The Rams were plagued by 13 turnovers in the first half.

In the second half, the Explorers led by as many as 24 after Gale hit one of her four-three pointers on the day with 11:37 to play.

For the Rams, Caitlin Shadbolt added 12 points.  Tiffany Stokes and Becky Peters each collected eight rebounds.

La Salle now improves to 3-5 in the A-10 and will remain at home for its next contest, a 7:00 p.m. game on Wednesday against Rhode Island.