RICHMOND, Va. – The La Salle women's basketball team (12-14) pulled within four points on two occasions in the third period, but could not overcome the deficit Friday afternoon as the Explorers fell to #1 Dayton, 85-70, in the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinal.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- La Salle took an early 3-2 lead prior to Dayton taking a 10-0 run over the next 1:43, which forced a timeout by the Blue & Gold at 7:22. The Explorers connected on back-to-back triples to cut the gap to 12-6, however the Flyers grabbed another 10-0 run to push the lead up, 22-9 with 3:00 remaining. The Explorers claimed five of the final nine points to be down 26-14 after one.
- The Blue & Gold scored the first five points of the second stanza from the charity stripe to cut the lead to seven. Dayton outpaced the Explorers 7-6 over the next 13 points for a 33-26 differential at the media break with 4:13 left. La Salle took a 12-8 advantage over the remainder of the half, including a 6-0 run to cut it to five at 42-37.
- Dayton held the upper hand over the first 4:50 of the second half as it out paced La Salle 14-8, including an 8-0 run over a 1:29 span for a 58-45 lead. The Explorers brought the deficit down to nine points at the end of the third, 65-56.
- The Flyers opened the final stanza with an 11-4 advantage through the first 4:01 to extend the lead to 16. La Salle cut it to 13 points at the 4:59 media stoppage, 76-63. The top seed closed the game with a 9-7 margin for the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Junior Kayla Spruill paced the squad with 17 points. She also brought in a team high seven rebounds in the game.
- Junior Molly Masciantonio posted a season best15 points on a 5-of-6 afternoon. The Morton, Pa. native added five boards and four steals to her line.
- Senior Haleigh Hill scored in double figures for the third straight game with 11 points.
- Sophomore Amy Jacobs completed the quartet of double digit scorers with an even 10 points.
- Senior Kate Hill handed out five assists to just one turnover.
- La Salle won the turnover margin at +1 (14 to 15).
- The Explorers were nearly perfect from the line, going 19-of-20 (95%). This is the first time the team shot above 90% since the 2018-19 season.
