Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - A 14-0 run in the second half erased a 12-point deficit as the eighth-seeded La Salle women's basketball squad went on to defeat ninth-seeded Xavier 52-49 in the first round of the 2012 Buick Atlantic 10 Championship at Hagan Arena on Friday.

With the win, the Explorers (14-16) move on to the quarterfinal round to face top-seeded St. Bonaventure at noon, and ended Xavier's season at 8-20. The win is also the team's first Atlantic 10 Championship win since the 2003-04 squad topped the Bonnies in the first round in a game also played at St. Joe's in then-Alumni Fieldhouse. The Explorers also won their tenth Atlantic 10 Championship game since joining the league in 1995-96, and are now 10-13 in tournament play.

Brittany Wilson led all scorers with 19 points and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. She added a game-best five steals along with two assists. Jada Payne added 13 points for the Explorers, 11 of those in the second half and eight in the momentum-shifting 14-0 run. Four of the six Musketeers who played hit double figures, led by Amber Gray's 14 points. Lakeisha Crouch added a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Jessica Pachko and Sabrina Johnson added 10 apiece.

The Explorers held leading scorer and Atlantic 10 Third Team pick Tyeasha Moss to just four points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Xavier extended a seven-point 28-21 halftime lead to 12 by outscoring the Explorers 10-5 over the first 6:44 of the second half and appeared in control of the contest with 13:16 on the clock. Payne then sparked the 14-0 run with a layup at 13:09 and capped the run with a triple at 8:17 to give the Explorers their first lead since 3:55 in the first half.

The remainder of the game featured six lead changes and three ties. Xavier's last lead and final bucket of the game came on a Moss layup to put the score at 49-47 before La Salle closed out with the game's final five points. Wilson came up with two huge steals in the final 1:25 and capitalized both times with layups.

Wilson's first steal/layup combination came at 1:25, when she knocked the ball away from Xavier and drove to the basket to tie up the contest at 49-49. With 24 seconds on the clock and the game still tied, she lunged for a Xavier inbounds pass, picked it up and drove to the basket again for the game-winning layup. She was fouled on the play and converted the and-one to put the squad up 52-49, which turned into the final score after Xavier's Moss missed a potential tying three-pointer with seven seconds left and Amber Gray missed a jumper with two seconds remaining.

The Musketeers controlled the tip and scored the game's first two points on Gray free throws. Gray scored Xavier's first seven points as the Musketeers took an early 7-4 lead. The Explorers responded with back-to-back Nadia Duncan layups to take their first lead of the game at 14:19 and did not relinquish the lead until Xavier put together a 10-0 run to close out the first half.

Both teams struggled to hit the basket all afternoon, with the Explorers shooting 36.1 percent for the game and limiting the Musketeers to 30.6 percent. Xavier went 0-for-10 from three-point land, while the Explorers went 5-of-17.

Xavier hit 19-of-26 free throws, while La Salle hit just 3-of-11. The Musketeers also won the rebounding battle, 46-34.

La Salle returns to action tomorrow at noon to face top-seeded St. Bonaventure at noon. The game will be available to watch on atlantic10.com