Nov. 14, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Jamie Walsh drained a 17-foot jumper with 15 seconds to play, lifting the La Salle University Women's Basketball team to a thrilling 51-50 win over Loyola at Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday night. Carlene Hightower dropped a game-high 21 points and Tara Lapetina chipped in with 10 for the Explorers, who avoided their first 0-2 start in program history.

The win was sealed on the other end of the court when Melanie Gibbons swatted away a last-second shot by Loyola's Vika Sholokhova preserving the first victory of the season for the Blue and Gold.

After the Greyhounds raced out to an early 15-8 lead, the Explorers went on a 17-2 run to take a 25-17 with 2:57 to play in the first. An Ashley Alexander three with seven seconds left in the half cut the Loyola deficit to five heading into intermission.

Loyola (2-1) opened up the second half like the first, this time outscoring La Salle 13-4 over the first eight minutes and retaking the lead, 33-29. The Explorers responded with an 11-2 run of their own, grabbing a 40-35 advantage. Lapetina sparked the outburst with eight points in a three-minute span, including knocking down a pair of three pointers; La Salle's only two of the night.

As was the theme for much of the second half, the lead was short-lived as Sholokhova scored five-straight for the Greyhounds to knot the score at 40 apiece. The 6'3 center's prowess beyond the arc created match-up problems for the La Salle defense throughout the second half as she scored a team-high 16 points, all coming after the break.

With the score tied at 47 and under a minute to play, Hightower slashed through the Loyola defense for a hard-earned bucket, giving La Salle a two-point advantage. The Greyhounds once again responded, as Alexander nailed her fourth three-pointer of the evening to put the visitors up one with 26 seconds to play.

Morgan Robertson was a force on the boards, grabbing 10 rebounds for the Explorers. With her 21 points, Hightower is now just 34 away from becoming the 22nd member of the Explorers' 1,000-point club.

Sholokhova shared game-high honors with 10 rebounds of her own. Alexander finished with 14 points, while teammate Erica DiClemente added 12 and seven boards for Loyola, who was looking to win its third straight game over a Philadelphia-area opponent.

La Salle (1-1) will look to make it two in a row this Saturday, when they take to the road to face off against city-rival Drexel. The game tips off at 1 PM.