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PHILADELPHIA - Freshman Micahya Owens drained a game-high 20 points and the La Salle women's basketball squad bounced back from a seven-point halftime deficit to top George Mason 66-60 on Wednesday evening at Tom Gola Arena.

Alicia Cropper and Leeza Burdgess added 19 points each for the Explorers (11-11, 6-4 Atlantic 10).

A pair of Explorers pulled down 10 rebounds each, including Jasmine Alston and Siobhan Beslow.

Philly native Janaa Pickard led George Mason (6-17, 0-10 Atlantic 10) with 15 points.

The Explorers topped the Patriots for the second time this season and move to 4-0 all-time in the series. The two squads met on Jan. 4 in Fairfax, with the Explorers winning that contest 65-50.

This game, however, was closer as the Patriots fought hard to try to get their first win as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, leading by six with just over three minutes remaining in the game. The Patriots led by as many as 13 in the first half, capped by a traditional three-point play by Pickard at the 6:30 mark.

The Explorers mounted a 13-2 run thanks to 10 of Owens' 20 points and drew within two at 30-28 at 1:45 prior to halftime. The Patriots scored the last five points of the half to take a 35-28 lead into the break.

Owens drained five more points in a 9-2 run out of the locker room to draw even at 37-37 with 17:38 on the clock. The teams traded baskets to cause three more ties before the Explorers finally broke through with their first lead at 44-43 when Burdgess converted the and-one at 13:04.

Neither team scored again until Cropper drained two freebies at 10:24 to push the Explorer lead to three.

With the score at 48-45 in favor of the Explorers a few minutes later, the Patriots mounted a 9-0 run over three minutes to regain a six-point lead at 54-48 with 5:35 to go. The squads traded baskets until the Patriots' final six-point lead at 3:11 on two Pickard free throws.

Eight seconds later, Owens drained a three to cut the deficit to 58-55 and followed up with two free throws at 2:32 to draw within one. Burdgess had a nice bucket from under the net at 1:53 to regain the lead at 59-58.

Mason's Taylor Brown responded with a layup in the paint to put the Patriots back on top at 60-59 with 1:35 to go, but that was the final lead of the night for the visitors.

An Alston layup at 1:10 gave the Explorers the lead at 61-60 and Burdgess pushed it to 63-60 with 31 seconds left. Cropper made two free throws and Alston added one to seal the final 66-60 score.

The Explorers crashed the boards, outrebounding Mason 42-32 behind Alston and Beslow's 10-rebound performances.

The shooting for the night was clearly a tale of two halves. The Patriots went 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half to the Explorers' 27.3 percent. Those figures were reverse in the second half with the Explorers going 52.0 percent to the Patriots' 27.6 percent. Overall for the game, the Patriots shot 39.3 percent (22-56) and the Explorers went 37.9 percent (22-58).

The teams shot a combined 4-for-26 from long range with a pair of three-pointers for each squad. The Explorers sizzled at the free throw line tonight, making 20 of their 25 attempts. The Patriots went 14-for-16.

With the 66 points and the win, the Explorers are now 9-0 on the season when scoring at least 60 points.

La Salle remains at home this weekend, hosting Rhode Island on Saturday night at 8:30. Saturday's game is the annual Breast Cancer Awareness game, so the team will be donning pink. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink.