Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Brittany Wilson led a quartet of players in double figures and La Salle led Massachusetts wire-to-wire in an 81-67 win on Saturday night at Tom Gola Arena.

The Explorers improve to 11-12 overall, 5-3 in the Atlantic 10, while the Minutewomen fall to 6-17 overall, 1-7 in the A-10.

Wilson drained a game-high 18 points, going 5-for-9 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Nadia Duncan went 7-for-8 en route to 14 points, Michea Bryant added 14 behind a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe and Jada Payne contributed 13 points with three treys.

Ruvanna Campbell regained defensive momentum, pulling down a game-best 11 rebounds and recording another block. She now has 35 rejections on the season, needing just two more to set a new freshman single-season record.

UMass' Shakia Robinson led the Minutewomen with 17 points and Jasmine Watson added 10.

Although the game was scoreless for nearly three minutes, the Explorers got hot from long-range as they hit six consecutive three-pointers for their first 18 points.

With the Explorers up 20-15 just over midway through the half, they went on a 10-2 run capped by a Jordan Mosley jumper at 6:41 to take a 13-point 20-17 lead. After an Emilie Tauscher jumper, the Explorers extended their lead to 15 thanks to two Jess Koci free throws and an Alexis Scott jumper.

The Blue & Gold took a nine-point 37-26 lead into the halftime break. After a Carolann Cloutier jumper to open the half, Payne sparked an 8-0 run with a layup to put the home squad up 45-28 at the 16:05 mark.

UMass didn't give up, though, cutting the 17-point Explorer lead down to four thanks to a 14-0 run fueled by three treys and an Aisha Rodney three-point play to put the score at 45-42 at the 12:52 mark. That was the closest the visitors got as the Explorers clamped down and eventually regained a double-digit lead on a Wilson trey at 7:36 to put the score at 62-51.

UMass cut the La Salle lead to single digits one more time, getting within nine with 2:23 on the clock but the Explorers outscored the Minutewomen 9-4 down the stretch en route to the 81-67 final.

The Explorers shot 50.9 percent for the game and shined on the free throw line, hitting 17 of 20 of their foul shots. UMass shot 46.9 percent for the game and were limited to just 4-of 15 from long range.

The Explorers return to action on Wednesday (2/8) when they host Saint Joseph's for an Atlantic 10 and Big 5 contest at Tom Gola Arena at 7 p.m.