Box Score

CINCINNATI, Ohio - Xavier used a 15-2 run to overcome La Salle's 14-point second half lead and pushed past the Explorers 58-53 at the Cintas Center on Sunday afternoon.

Shanel Harrison led all scorers with 17 points and tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds. Ebonee Jones added 15 points and six rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes. Bryant chipped in nine points thanks to three made shots from downtown.

Amber Gray led the Musketeers (8-15, 2-7 Atlantic 10) with 14 points and Jessica Pachko scored 12 of her 13 points in the second half off the bench. Jenna Crittendon led Xavier with nine rebounds and Pachko added eight boards.

The first half of play remained close, though La Salle (7-16, 3-5 Atlantic 10) held the advantage after two Indigo Dickens free throws broke a 6-6 tie just under the 13-minute mark. Jordan Mosley added a jumper at 12:14 to put the Explorers up four, but Shatyra Hawkes responded with a layup.

 Bryant nailed the first of her three first-half triples to go up five and after two Musketeer free throws, added the second to give the Explorers a six-point 16-10 lead at 8:51. Xavier got back within one on several occasions, but could not pull ahead. Two Ashley Wanninger free throws at 1:12 brought the home squad within 22-21 with 1:12 before the half until Bryant hit her third trey and Jones hit a jumper with eight seconds to end the half on a 5-0 spurt and take a 27-21 lead into the break.

Wanninger hit a three to pull Xavier within three, but the Explorers responded with Harrison and Jones combining for 11 points in an 11-0 run to go up 38-24 at the 16:16 mark. The teams traded baskets through the next few minutes and the Explorers appeared in control of the game by getting a 14-point lead on several occasions, the last coming at 12:33 on a Jones layup in the paint to put the score at 46-32.

Xavier, which has now won six of its eight games at home, used its home court advantage to storm back. A Crittendon three at 12:23 sparked a 15-2 Musketeer run spanning just over six minutes to pull within 48-47.

Jones broke the run with a jumper at 6:10 to give the Explorers a three-point cushion and it seemed over the next few minutes that Xavier would not get over the one-point hump. An Aliyah Zantt layup at 2:57 then gave Xavier its first lead since the 16:17 point of the first half, pushing ahead 52-51 and which proved to be the winning basket. Pachko added a bucket for the 54-51 advantage at 2:16.

Siobhan Beslow hit a jumper at 1:41 to get within 54-53 but that was the closest the Explorers got as Xavier scored the last four points of the game for the final 58-53 tally.

The Explorers shot 35.0 percent for the game (21-60) and hit all five of its three pointers in the first half. Xavier went 41.3 percent (19-for 46) for the game. The Musketeers were just 2-for-17 from long range, but were helped by going 18-for-23 at the free throw line. The Explorers only got to the line 10 times, converting six tries.

The squads were fairly even on the turnover front, with La Salle committing 15 miscues to Xavier's 13, but the Musketeers turned those into 19 points compared to five points off turnovers for the Blue & Gold. XU also dominated the paint, outscoring the Explorers 34-14 under the basket despite a 37-33 Explorer rebounding edge.

La Salle returns home on Wednesday (2/13) when Saint Louis comes to town for a noon time tipoff at Tom Gola Arena.