PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The La Salle women's basketball team remained neck-in-neck with the Duquesne Dukes throughout most of the game until a key steal by Molly Masciantonio paired with a Claire Jacobs put-back bucket all within the final 19 seconds put the Explorers in the lead to defeat Duquesne 67-66 on Wednesday night.

La Salle's record improves to 15-11 overall and 8-6 in conference play while Duquesne falls to 11-16 on the season and 6-9 in the Atlantic 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Explorers trailed by as many as six two times in the first quarter before taking a 6-1 run through the final 3:28 to pull ahead by a single point at the end of the first frame, 12-11.
• The second quarter remained close between the two teams with La Salle holding the advantage for the majority of the frame allowing the Dukes to take only a single-point lead once at the 1:53 mark. La Salle ended the stanza with the 5-2 advantage to take a two-point lead into the second half, 27-25.
• La Salle took a 9-4 advantage into the media highlighted by 3-point buckets from Amy Jacobs and Masciantonio paired with a Kayla Spruill and one opportunity to create a 10-point lead over the Dukes, 39-29. Duquesne responded with the 17-6 advantage through the remainder of the frame to pull ahead by a single point, 46-45.
• The team's knotted the score twice in the first 1:20 of the final quarter before Duquesne took a 7-1 run into the media to lead by six, 57-51. The Explorers took a 7-2 run out of the media to come within a single point, 59-58, before calling timeout at 2:29. The ensuing two minutes and 10 seconds saw four more lead changes before a key steal by Masciantonio led to a breakaway and a foul on the Dukes placing the point guard at the line to give La Salle back a single-point lead, 65-64, with 19 seconds remaining. The Dukes put themselves back in the game with a layup at the 0:07 mark to regain the lead. Claire Jacobs answered the call for the Explorers putting up a second-chance jumper with two tenths of a second left on the clock to win the game, 67-66.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• The Explorers were paced by four double-digit scorers: Kayla Spruill (17), Claire Jacobs (16), Molly Masciantonio (13) and Gabby Crawford (12).
• Spruill shot 7-of-10 from the field including 2-of-4 from deep and 1-of-1 from the line. She added two blocks and four turnovers.
• Claire Jacobs shot 5-of-11 from the field, 2-of-6 from beyond the arc and a near-perfect 4-of-5 from the line. She pulled down five boards, swiped three balls and totaled three assists.
• Masciantonio made a team-high four steals while collecting five rebounds. She shot 5-of-9 overall including perfect marks from the 3-point range (1-of-1) and the charity stripe (2-of-2). She totaled three assists on the night.
• Gabby Crawford totaled a team-high six rebounds. She went 5-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from the line.
• Duquesne outshot La Salle from the field 49.1%-45.5% and from the 3-point range 42.9%-29.2%. The Explorers held the advantage at the charity stripe shooting 71.4% while the Dukes shot just 53.3%.
• La Salle lost the battle at the boards 33-30 but won the turnover battle once again, 11-17.
• The Explorers held the advantage in points off turnovers (19-13), fast break points (4-0) and points from the bench (15-19). Duquesne came out on top in points in the paint (28-26) and second chance points (11-4).

GAME NOTES:

• La Salle is now 21-23 in the all-time series against Duquesne and 10-10 when the Dukes visit Philadelphia. The victory in Tom Gola marks the first for La Salle against the Dukes since Feb. 2, 2007.
• The Explorers have now won their last three consecutive contests marking the second time the Explorers have won three-straight in conference play and third time overall this season.
• La Salle is now 9-5 when letting its opponent score first, 11-2 when leading at halftime, 4-3 in both the month of February and when playing on a Wednesday and 3-2 in a game decided by five points or less.
• The single-point win is the closest margin of victory for La Salle this season.
• La Salle has won the turnover battle in 19 of its games this season including the last seven straight.
• The game marks Spruill's 20^th in double figures this season including her seventh straight.
• Claire Jacobs has now reached 10+ points in 11 games including the last three consecutive contests.
• The contest marks Masciantonio's second-straight game in double digits and sets a new season-high in points (13) for the senior.

UP NEXT:

• La Salle hits the road for its final game of the regular season against George Washington this Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.