Box Score
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Four Explorers scored in double figures, led by
Shanel Harrison's game-high 16 points, as the La Salle women's basketball squad picked up its second straight win by outlasting Fairfield 60-50 at Alumni Hall on Saturday.
The Explorers improve to 3-9, dropping the Stags to 5-4.
Karynda DuPree lit up for a career-best 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting and
Brittany Wilson added 13 to go along with a game-high nine rebounds.
Ebonee Jones added 12 points.
Fairfield's Katie Cizynski also scored 16 points to tie Harrison for the game high, 12 in the first half.
The Explorers jumped out to a 12-2 lead at the 13:27 point thanks to Harrison's first six points and DuPree's first four. The Stags responded after the first media timeout to go on an 11-2 run to close the gap to just one at 14-13 before Harrison broke up the momentum with a layup at 8:01.
The Stags took a brief 17-16 lead on a Kristin Schatzlein layup at 6:55 before Jones responded 30 seconds later with a triple. The teams traded baskets through the remainder of the first half, with Harrison getting the half's final bucket with 1:34 left to put the Explorers ahead 28-23 into the break.
The home squad came out of the gate and scored the second half's first four points until a Harrison layup at 17:31. The Explorers maintained their lead until the half's first tie at 36-36 at 13:30 on back-to-back Christelle Akon-Akech layups, and Fairfield then went ahead on a Katelyn Linney free throw at 13:02.
After trading buckets and two more ties, La Salle took the lead for good thanks to Wilson's layup at 10:34 to put the score at 41-40. Jones and DuPree buckets pushed the lead to six and the Explorers closed out the game without letting the Stags closeer than that the rest of the way. DuPree nailed two free throws with 39 seconds to push the lead to 10 and for the final 60-50 score.
The Explorers shot 45.5 percent for the game, including a blistering 54.2 percent in the first half. They limited the Stags to 42.6 percent. Neither team had their long-range shooting today, tallying only four combined three-pointers. La Salle won the rebounding battle 33-27 and recorded seven blocked shots, led by Harrison's three rejections.
The Explorers return to action next Saturday (12/29) when they host Saint Peter's at 1 p.m.
