PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The La Salle women's basketball team returned to the court after a well-deserved break, but an early 6-0 run from Penn to start the first quarter put the Explorers in the chase eventually dropping the contest 72-59 in Tom Gola Arena on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Explorers went scoreless through the first four minutes allowing Penn to build up a six-point lead. A much-needed Gabby Crawford jumper paired with deep balls from Amy Jacobs and Jaye Haynes helped bring the Explorers within eight at the end of the quarter, 24-16.
• Turnover trouble for the Explorers let Penn build up a 12-point lead, 28-16, in the early minutes of the second frame. Crawford looked to change the momentum intercepting the rock and bringing it down the court for the layup to cut the deficit to 10, 28-18. A 7-0 effort from the Quakers ensued to put them up by 17, 35-17, forcing a La Salle timeout at the 6:42 mark. Penn held the 8-4 advantage through the rest of the quarter to take a 43-22 lead into the second half.
• The Explorers came into the second half strong cutting the 21-point game to a 12-point game in a matter of minutes with back-to-back three-point buckets from Claire Jacobs and a deep ball from Charity Shears to force a Penn timeout. The Quakers stuffed the comeback with a 13-6 performance through the rest of the third to take a 19-point, 60-41, lead into the final 10 minutes.
• La Salle held the 18-12 edge over Penn in the final quarter thanks to a perfect 3-of-3 shooting effort from shears including a 2-of-2 performance from beyond the arc paired with a seven-point effort from Crawford. Unfortunately, the early deficit was too much for the Explorers to overcome dropping the contest 72-59.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Crawford led the game for the Explorers with a new season-high 17 points from 7-of-15 shooting and a 3-of-4 effort from the charity stripe.
• Shears and Claire Jacobs both ended the night in double-digits. After a slow start from the long range, Shears went 3-of-3 in the final frame and 5-of-10 from the field overall for 13 points. Claire Jacobs 10 points were comprised of two balls from deep and two buckets from the field.
• Crawford and Claire Jacobs led La Salle's rebounding efforts. Crawford pulled down a team-high eight boards followed by Jacobs with seven.
• Amy Jacobs led the Explorers in assists with six while Spruill led in steals with four.
• The Quakers narrowly outrebounded the Explorers 47-42.
• The Explorers found themselves in turnover trouble yet tied Penn in turnovers, 22-22. Penn capitalized more off the turnovers with 21 points compared to La Salle's 16.
• The difference came in the paint with Penn holding a 48-16 advantage.

GAME NOTES:

• La Salle falls to 36-13 in the overall series with Penn and 17-5 when facing the Quakers in Gola.
• La Salle is now 5-3 on the season, 1-1 when playing at home and 0-1 in Big 5 play.
• The Explorers have now had at least two Explorers hit double-digit scoring in every game this season and have had at least three players do it in four games.
• Crawford has now had five 10-plus point games including two consecutive games where she set season-highs in points. Her eight rebounds marks a new season high, previously set at five on three occasions.
• Claire Jacobs now has had five games in double-digits and Shears has four.

 
UP NEXT:

• La Salle will play its second consecutive home game this Saturday, Dec. 3 against Lehigh at 2 p.m. The Explorers vs. Pediatric Cancer Game will take place for the second year honoring head coach Mountain MacGillivray's daughter, Emily. Join us as we #ClimbWithEmily and don't forget to bring a toy donation for the Toys For Tots toy drive.