PHILADELPHIA – Defending Atlantic 10 champion Fordham used a 15-5 run midway through the second half to break away from La Salle and spoil the Explorers' perfect home record with a 70-59 decision at Tom Gola Arena on Thursday evening. The Explorers entered tonight's contest with a 5-0 home record this season.
The Explorers (10-5, 1-1 Atlantic 10) chipped away at the Rams' 11-point lead in the first half, and the run continued after the break as they took a brief lead early in the second before the Rams' responded with that deciding run.
Alicia Cropper and
Micahya Owens paced the Explorers with 11 points each. Cropper added a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
Fordham's Samantha Clark led all scorers with 18 points and completed the double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. Emily Tapio added 13 for the Rams (10-5, 2-0 Atlantic 10); Tiffany Ruffin added 11 and G'mrice Davis chipped in 10.
The Rams jumped out to a 20-9 lead and would go up by 11 on three more occasions in the first half. With Fordham up 31-20 with 5:26 until halftime, Cropper got on the board with a triple at 2:08 to get back within single digits. After an Asnate Fomina free throw, the Explorers scored the next seven points to draw within 32-30 with 35 seconds left. Fomina pushed the visitor lead back to four with a jumper with 16 seconds on the clock for a 34-30 halftime score.
Cropper went on a six-point run with two threes out of the gate in the second half to give the Explorers their first lead since early in the game at 36-35 with 17:15 on the clock. Fordham's Clark quickly responded with a layup in the paint, and went on a 6-0 run herself with two more shots from underneath to put the Rams up 41-36.
The Rams quickly were back up 11 at 50-39, as Davis added to the run with four free throws and a layup and Danielle Padovano added a triple.
Lee and Owens stopped the run with back-to-back buckets to draw within seven at 50-43 with 9:23 to go, but that was the closest the Explorers would get down the stretch. The Rams toiled with either side of a 10-point lead for a few minutes before a Tiffany Ruffin three-point play at 3:17 put the Rams up in double figures for good. They went up as many as 16 with 46 seconds left. The Explorers went on a 5-0 spurt, which included
Siobhan Beslow's first career three-pointer, but it was too little too late.
The Explorers were hampered by cold shooting throughout, going 31.9 percent (23-72) for the game. Fordham, ranked 11th nationally in three-point defense, proved it by holding the Explorers to just 5-for-18 from long range (27.8 percent). The Explorers also squandered 20 offensive rebounds as they converted that into just seven second chance points.
Fordham couldn't miss, going 50.0 percent (14-28) in the first half before kicking it up with a 56.5 percent (13-23) clip in the second to go 52.9 percent for the game. The Rams also hit five three-pointers but did so on just 11 attempts to go 45.5 percent from long range.
The Rams also edged the Explorers on the boards, 40-38, despite those 20 La Salle offensive rebounds.
The Explorers won the turnover battle, however, committing just 13 miscues while forcing the Rams into 17.
The squad remains at home through the weekend, hosting George Mason on Sunday (1/11) at 1 pm.
