PHILADELPHIA -
Alicia Cropper drained a season-high 25 points, including her 1,000th career point, to lead all scorers in a 70-64 Explorer setback at Saint Joseph's on Wednesday night.
Cropper needed just eight coming into tonight, and accomplished the feat with a long 3-pointer with just under 18 minutes to go in the second half. She was on fire in the second stanza, draining 18 of her 25 points after the break. Cropper went 8-for-17 from the field, 4-for-8 from long range and 5-for-6 at the charity stripe. She added a team-high eight rebounds in the effort.
"
Alicia Cropper got her 1,000th point, she played well - 25 points and eight rebounds," Head Coach
Jeff Williams said. "She's just been a great kid, I'm happy for her. I'm not happy about the loss, but I think she did all she could to help us get the win."
Micahya Owens added 13 points and
Khristin Lee chipped in nine for the Explorers (11-11, 2-7 Atlantic 10).
SJU's Sarah Fairbanks led the Hawks (8-13, 4-5 Atlantic 10) with a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Natasha Cloud added a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists. Ciara Andrews went 8-for-8 at the free throw line en route to 14 points and Ashley Robinson chipped in 12.
"I thought we did some good things, we got down but the kids fought back," Williams said. "We got to within three and missed a layup that could have cut it to one, but we showed some fight. I'm happy about that but we still have to execute down the stretch and make some more plays to try and secure a win."
The Explorers struggled out of the gate, missing their first nine field goals while SJU built a 10-2 lead by 14:28. Owens put the first two points on the board with early free throws, and hit the team's first field goal with 14:15 on the clock.
Two Cropper free throws at 6:37 brought the Explorers within 19-16, but the Hawks responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead back to 10 at 26-16. The teams traded baskets down the stretch for an 11-point 37-26 SJU halftime lead.
The Explorers cut the Hawks' lead to nine on several occasions early in the second stanza but did not break through until a 10-3 run midway through the half that brought the squad within three at 53-50 with 7:50 to go.Â
Two Cloud free throws then sparked a 6-0 Hawk spurt to push the home team's lead back to nine with 4:03 on the clock. Lee nailed a three to cut it to six, but the Explorers could not get within six the rest of the way. A 5-0 Hawk spurt pushed their lead back to 11, which proved too much to overcome. The Explorers showed fight down the stretch, getting within six on four occasions in the final 51 seconds including the final 70-64 score.
The Explorers limited SJU to just 1-for-6 from long range and held the Hawks to 38.9 percent shooting, but a 27-for-31 free throw effort helped the home squad. The Explorers were whistled for 26 fouls to the Hawks' 16. The Explorers went 34.3 percent from the field and a much-improved 42.9 percent (6-14) from long range, as well as 70.6 percent (12-17) at the charity stripe.
The Hawks edged the Blue & Gold on the boards, 41-39, but the Explorers won the turnover battle by forcing the Hawks into 10 compared to just eight for La Salle.
The Explorers return to action on Saturday when they host Massachusetts in the second of this year's home-and-home series. Tipoff is set for 1pm.
