PITTSBURGH – Junior Kayla Spruill and sophomore Claire Jacobs led the La Salle women's basketball team (6-7, 2-4 A-10) to a 67-63 victory over Duquesne (2-7, 1-4 A-10) on Sunday afternoon. The victory snaps a six-game losing streak against the Dukes and marks the first victory in the series since 2014.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• La Salle jumped out in front early, scoring the first bucket of the game and continued the momentum for a 9-4 lead at the media stoppage with 3:29 left in the first frame. The Explorers maintained a great defensive effort holding Duquesne without a field goal over the final 4:17 of the first. La Salle led 11-6 after the initial quarter. The Blue & Gold's six points allowed is its best defensive effort to start a game this season.
• Duquesne opened up its scoring in the second period with a 7-0 spurt over a 1:51 span, which forced a La Salle timeout with 6:40 remaining. Ultimately, the Dukes narrowed the deficit from the first frame as it outpaced the Explorers 15-14 in the second quarter and could've been more, however La Salle held Duquesne scoreless over the final 2:16.
• The first few minutes of the second half saw a scoring drought by both teams but the offenses picked up around the five-minute mark. At the media timeout with 4:13 left, La Salle had outscored Duquesne 9-7, including back-to-back threes heading into the break; one each by senior Deja King and sophomore Amy Jacobs. The Dukes chipped into the Explorers' lead a little more with an 11-9 margin to end the period down, 46-39.
• Duquesne brought the deficit down to three points with a 7-3 scoring advantage into the fourth, before the Explorers ripped off a 7-0 margin of their own over 1:10 to pull back up by 10. All seven points came from Spruill. Duquesne scored 15 of the next 23 points to pull within three, however La Salle remained vigilant and went 3-of-4 from the stripe to seal the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Spruill finished with 24 points to lead all scorers. She went 7-of-14 from the field, 4-of-8 from deep, and 6-of-8 from the line. The Baltimore, Md. native added four rebounds to her stat line.
• C. Jacobs registered 15 points on 33% shooting and 5-of-6 from the stripe. She corralled four boards and handed out two assists.
• King recorded seven points to round out the top three scorers.
• Senior Haleigh Hill scored six points and brought in five rebounds.
• Junior Molly Masciantonio handed out a season high six assists to one turnover.
• Senior Kate Hill dished out four assists to one give-up.
• La Salle shot 40% from the floor, 30% from long range, and 70% from the line.
• The Explorers won the turnover battle with a +7 margin (12-19). This led to the Blue & Gold scoring 12 points off turnovers compared to the Dukes' two.
• Duquesne claimed the rebounding margin 41-29.

GAME NOTES:

• Duquesne's six points in the first stanza is the lowest allowed by La Salle in any quarter this season.
• Spruill posted back-to-back games with 16 or more points.
• C. Jacobs has scored 15+ in eight of 12 games this season and 10+ in 20 of her last 22.
• La Salle moves to 15-6 all-time under head coach Mountain MacGillivray when scoring 67+.
• The Explorers are now 4-1 this season when leading at the half.

UP NEXT:
La Salle returns to the confines of Tom Gola Arena for a Friday/Sunday weekend series with George Washington and George Mason.