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PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball team pulled away in the second half to defeat Rhode Island, 50-42, on Saturday night at Tom Gola Arena. The game was the yearly designated Pink Game, as both teams donned pink gear for the Play-4-Kay breast cancer initiative.

Micahya Owens drained a game-high 18 points while Alicia Cropper added her second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Alston hit the 10-rebound mark for the second game in a row as well while dishing out a game-high six assists.

Leeza Burdgess was strong defensively, recording a career-high four blocked shots while adding eight rebounds.

Rhode Island's Kallie Banker was the lone Ram in double figures, scoring 13.

The game was a bit of deja vu from the first meeting this season back on Jan. 2, when the Explorers topped the Rams 50-44 in overtime. Once again, offense was at a premium between the two defensive-minded squads. Both teams came in to the contest yielding less than 60 points per game to opponents while also scoring less than 60 ppg themselves.

The Explorers (12-11, 7-4 Atlantic 10) jumped out to a 21-8 lead with 5:47 remaining until halftime, though the Ram offense picked up late in the first half to draw within 25-20 at halftime.

The Rams (7-17, 2-9 Atlantic 10) managed to get back within two early in the second half, but an 11-3 Explorer run spanning the middle seven minutes of the second stanza pushed the lead back to 10 at 39-29 with just over nine minutes remaining. The Rams drew back within six on two Banker free throws at 1:37 but they never seriously threatened down the stretch.

Rebounds were plentiful on Saturday night thanks to cold shooting on both ends of the floor. The Explorers corraled 51 boards to the Rams' 46. The Explorers shot just 30.9 percent on the night to continue a cold trend, but it was more than enough as they held the Rams to a paltry 20.3 percent. They also kept the Rams off the three-point line, limiting the visitors to just 2-for-14. The Explorers entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in three-point field goal percent defense, allowing only 19.8 percent of opponent treys to make it. With the Rams' 14.3 percent tonight, that league-leading figure lowered to 19.3 percent.

The Explorers stay in Philadelphia through the week, playing at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday (2/12) at 7 p.m.