PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball team (15-11, 8-6 A-10) took Saint Louis (21-6, 11-3 A-10) to the wire on Wednesday night but fell 79-74 to the Billikens at Tom Gola Arena. 

Amy Griffin poured in a season-high 26 points, Alston had a season-high 17 points and Adreana Miller added 15 but the Explorers couldn't close the gap in the final minutes. 

The game was tightly contested throughout, and the Explorers entered the 4th quarter trailing just 54-50. La Salle started the quarter on a 7-2 run to seize a 57-56 lead on an Alston fastbreak layup with 7:09 to play. 

SLU's Jordyn Frantz answered right away with a three-point play to retake the lead for the Billikens but the Explorers wouldn't go quietly, jumping in front on a trey from Miller to make it 62-61 La Salle with 6:03 left. The lead changed five more times from there, with the Explorers leading for the final time at 66-65 after a Griffin jumper with 4:41 remaining. 

SLU regained the lead for good on two more foul shots from Frantz to put the Billikens ahead 67-66 with 4:11 to go. Sadie Stipanovich led the way for the visitors with 28 points and eight rebounds while Jackie Kemph (15 points), Frantz (12) and Kerri McMahan (11) all finished in double figures. 

Alston had a game-high five assists and snatched a game-high nine rebounds as La Salle held a 38-32 rebounding advantage. Sofi Ngwafang grabbed eight boards for La Salle and Lisa Mintzer had six rebound to match six points. 

The Explorers hit the road for the final time in the regular season on Sunday when they visit the Massachusetts Minutewomen for a 1 p.m. tipoff from the Mullins Center. The Explorers are looking to sweep the season series after a 68-64 win over UMass at Tom Gola Arena on January 25.