PHILADELPHIA – La Salle women's basketball fell to the Saint Louis Billikens tonight 78-57. This is the Explorer's eighth-straight loss, the second time the team has had an eight-game losing streak this season.
 
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HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Explorers came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. The first three offensive possessions for La Salle resulted in points.
• Tiara Bolden, Molly Masciantonio, and Makayla Miller all collected points early, in what shaped to be a great opening frame for the Explorers.
• Despite the scoring drives for La Salle, Saint Louis answered every step of the way. Peyton Kennedy, Kyla McMakin, and Julia Martinez started their big games early to help SLU keep with the explosive La Salle offense.
• At one point up seven points with 3:41 remaining in the first, the Bills kept inching closer to the Explorers. Brooklyn Gray helped tie the game before Masciantonio got La Salle back on top.
• A buzzer-beating shot by SLU to end the first, capped off an entertaining opening frame. The Explorers shot 52% from the field, helping to the hot start.
• The second quarter did not result anything like the first did for La Salle. Saint Louis quickly jumped on top within the first 3:30 of the quarter by 11 points, before La Salle scored their first bucket, only a free throw conversion.
• With 3:33 remaining in the half, Saint Louis had outscored La Salle 17-1 in the quarter. A jump-shot conversion by Emma Egan and a handful of free throw conversions, ended the bleeding for the Explorers, however they were still outscored 21-6 in the second.
• La Salle came out of the break in better form than they ended the first. Masciantonio and Jolene Armendariz contributed early in the third, to help start a potential comeback, unfortunately the Billikens answered a majority of the time.
• Tiara Bolden and Armendariz led the scoring charge for La Salle to try and keep it close in the third, but their 13 combined points only resulted in outscoring the Billikens by one in the third.
• Entering the final frame of play, La Salle needed to contain the second ranked offense in the league, but that task was hard to achieve. Julia Martinez helped SLU in a multitude of ways, contributing to her triple double, 10 points, 10 assists, 11 rebounds.

 
 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• The second and fourth quarters for La Salle only resulted in 16 points, apposite the 39 combined for the Billikens.
• Despite the result, four Explorers finished in double digits. Tiara Bolden had 13, Nicole Melious had 12, Jolene Armendariz had 11, and Molly Masciantonio had 10.
• Bolden and Armendariz led La Salle on the boards, each pulling in eight rebounds.
• From the first to second quarter, the shooting percentage was staggeringly different for La Salle. They shot 52.94% in the first, to 6.67% in the second, ultimately making the difference in the game.
• The inside numbers for Saint Louis contributed heavily to their win. 54 of the 78 points the Billikens scored came from in the point.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Explorers will hit the road for the final regular season game of the season against the Fordham Rams in the Bronx.
• The two teams met earlier this season in Philly and the Explorers topped the Rams 64-53.
• Tipoff Saturday is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.