PHILADELPHIA – La Salle earned a 62-53 win over the American University Eagles Saturday afternoon. Nicole Melious led the scoring charge for La Salle and finished the day with 22 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
 
The Blue & Gold will be back in action on Wednesday when they face Philly rival Drexel on the road.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Both teams came out slow in the first frame of the contest. A feeling-out period was evident after a combined 19 points were scored after the end of the first with the Explorers leading 12-7.
• The second quarter is where the momentum shifted drastically toward La Salle. American was able to tie the game at 12 points early in the second, but that was as close as the Eagles got the rest of the first half. Emilee Tahata got the scoring started in the second for La Salle on a fast break opportunity.
• Melious then took over in a couple of ways. Her range coming into college was something that was continually discussed, and tonight she showed it. Her first of four three pointers sparked the team's success the rest of the way.
• Her second three-pointer of the quarter gave the Explorers a ten-point lead with 2:43 remaining in the half. Melious was not finished as she added one more three in the half for good measure.
• A fastbreak chance for La Salle left Makayla Miller to add to the already sizeable lead which put the halftime score at 29-14 La Salle.
• Lauren Stack and Emily John came out in the second half pushing the Eagles to make a comeback. Within the first three minutes of the third they combined for six quick points to inch closer to La Salle.
• A Tiara Bolden three-pointer would help keep the comeback away. Even with a decent lead the Explorers had trouble containing Johns and Stack as they closed out the third the similarly to how it started, but putting La Salle on their heels.
• Melious and Stack would exchange blows in the start of the fourth, but the Eagles were not going away. The Explorer lead that was once 15 points, was cut to six halfway through the final frame of play.
• Aryss Macktoon and Makayla Miller were able to take multiple fouls to the free-throw line to help pull back away from American.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Melious's performance today was enough to make her the team's leading scorer with 43 points this season.
• Nine different Explorers contributed to the offensive's scoring against American.
• Gabby Turco remained active on offense and defense and led the team with 10 rebounds.
•  As a team La Salle forced 23 turnovers and converted those into 24 points.
• La Salle totaled 50 rebounds against American, the most in a game thus far for La Salle.