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BRONX, N.Y. - Fordham used a late 11-4 run over the final six minutes including the go-ahead free throws with 12 seconds remaining as the La Salle women's basketball squad fell in a heartbreaker, 43-42.
Alicia Cropper drained a team-high 15 points and
Siobhan Beslow had a terrific performance with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with two huge first-half steals.
Micahya Owens added 10 points and six rebounds, and
Jasmine Alston put together another double-digit rebounding day with 10 boards.
With the top two stingiest defenses in the Atlantic 10 squaring off, a defensive battle was expected and delivered. The Explorers came in giving up just 55.8 points per game in conference play to lead the A-10, and the Rams top the league in overall scoring defense by yielding just 58.5 points per game.
The Explorers also once again did what they do best - keep opponents off of the three-point line. The Rams went 0-for-13 from long range and the Explorers held Ram three-point sharpshooter Hannah Missry scoreless as well as Ram second-leading-scorer Abigail Corning without a point.
Fordham's Erin Rooney drained a game-high 21 points, including the two go-ahead free throws with 12 seconds remaining on her Senior Day. She scored 14 points in the second half. She entered today's contest as the Atlantic 10's second-leading scorer. Emily Tapio added a double-double of 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
The Explorers jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the first media timeout and led by a score of 7-2 on a Beslow jumper at 13:38. The Rams responded with an 8-2 spurt to take their first lead at 10-9 and took one more lead at 12-11 on a Mary Nwachukwu layup in the paint.
The Explorers responded with an Owens triple at 6:39 to go up 14-12 and the Blue & Gold would not trail again until the final 12 seconds. They built an 11-point lead out of the gate in the second half, going up 31-20 with 14:18 left. They gained one more double-digit lead, 35-25, on a Beslow jumper at 9:55 before the Rams started chipping away.
The Rams mounted a 7-0 spurt to draw within 35-32 at 8:22 before Cropper hit two free throws to push the lead back to five at 8:05. The Explorers got back to six points, the latest on two Owens free throws at 2:49. That was the largest lead the Explorers would get down the stretch as the Rams outscored the Explorers 8-2 in the final 1:52.
Rooney hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds for the final 43-42 score. Cropper's jumper with two seconds remaining was off the mark and the Rams picked up the final rebound.
The Explorers crashed the boards the rest of the game, outrebounding the Rams 46-32.
Both squads were cold shooting, with the Explorers going 29.2 percent (14-48) and the Rams going 31.4 percent (16-51). Both squads went an identical 11-for-17 at the free throw line.
The Explorers return to action on Wednesday when they host league-leader Dayton at Tom Gola Arena at 7 p.m.
