RICHMOND, Va. – The La Salle women's basketball squad picked up a much-needed win as the Explorers withstood a fast-paced VCU squad and 11 lead changes in a 74-65 win over the Rams at the Siegel Center on Saturday night. The Explorers defeated a Ram squad that had been 13-1 at home dating back to Jan. 25, 2014.
"This is a tough game, this was a big win for us," Head Coach
Jeff Williams said. "We've been struggling. I think it's good for the kids' morale to get this one."
Ebony Wells fueled the victory with a career-best 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting. She nailed two of three from beyond the arc and three of four at the free throw line, and added five rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
Amy Griffin came up big off the bench, draining 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting as well. Griffin added three rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots in a solid all-around game for the rookie.
Alicia Cropper added 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Seven of her points came on 7-for-8 shooting at the charity stripe. With her 12 tonight, she is now just eight points shy of the 1,000-point milestone for her career. Cropper added four assists and three rebounds.
Khristin Lee also put together a solid game with eight points, game-high six assists and team-best seven rebounds.
Indigo Dickens also stepped up with eight points and four rebounds in 19 minutes.
"Ebony Wells was huge tonight," Williams added. "She stepped up with 17 points. Indigo Dickens stepped up and gave us inside presence, and Amy Griffin [came off] the bench and added some scoring."
"It feels good to get a win, and that's the team that I know - the team that played tonight," Williams said.The Explorers (11-10, 2-6 Atlantic 10) were without the services of
Siobhan Beslow (7.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and
Lisa Mintzer (2.1 bpg in A-10 play), who are listed as day-to-day with injuries.
VCU's Chadarryl Clay led all scorers with 19 points. Adaeze Alaeze contributed a double-double of 15 points and game-high 10 rebounds, and Camille Calhoun chipped in 15 points for the Rams (14-8, 5-4 Atlantic 10).
The Explorers were terrific in sharing the ball, recording a season-best 20 assists on 26 field goals.
The Explorers built a 14-7 lead by the 12:05 point, but the Rams answered with a 7-0 run to tie it up two minutes later. Griffin and Wells put together back-to-back buckets and Dickens added two free throws to regain a six-point lead at 7:24 while holding VCU without a point for nearly three minutes. The Rams got back within one at 22-21, but Dickens and Griffin hit layups in the paint to go back up by five.
Once again the Rams had an answer, mounting a 9-0 run over 1:44 to take their first lead since early at 30-26. Two Cropper free throws and a Lee layup closed out the half as the squads took a 30-30 tie into the break.
The second half was more of the same, with six lead changes in the first 7:30 of the half. The Rams held a 47-44 lead at 13:21, but the Explorers mounted a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Wells started the run with a jumper in the paint. Griffin grabbed a steal on the other end and ran it back for a fastbreak layup, which proved to be the go-ahead bucket. Wells hit a free throw and Dickens converted a basket to cap the deciding run.
VCU kept it close, getting within 54-53 at 6:50 and then 59-57 at 4:20, but an 8-1 Explorer run over the next 3:25 put the game out of reach as the Blue & Gold took a 67-58 lead with 55 seconds remaining. VCU's Clay hit a three-pointer and two free throws to get the Rams within five, but the Explorers went 6-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away.
The squads were an even 42-42 on the boards, and the Explorers committed 14 turnovers while forcing 15 VCU miscues.
La Salle shot an improved 43.3 percent on the night, while going 19-for-26 at the charity stripe. The Explorers limited the Rams to 35.9 percent from the field, and just 15.0 percent (3-for-20) from long range. VCU went 16-for-24 at the free throw line.
The Explorers are back in action on Wednesday (2/4) when they travel across town to Saint Joseph's for the year's Big 5 finale.
