by PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women’s basketball team jumped out to a 28-23 halftime lead, but it wasn’t enough, as Massachusetts came back in the second half to claim a 60-50 victory on Sunday afternoon at John E. Glaser Arena.
Redshirt sophomore Ashleigh Connor and junior Ivy Fox led the Explorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Following a made shot by Ashleigh Connor on the Explorers’ first possession of the game, Ivy Fox grabbed a strong offensive rebound before extending the lead to 4-0 with a made layup. Fox had only started one game this season prior to the contest.
- Connor and Fox continued their dominance early in the first quarter, combining for the Explorers’ first 11 points. Massachusetts would eventually call a timeout trailing 11-5.
- After a brief scoring drought coming out of the timeout, Lilly Ferguson and Yahmani McKayle connected on layups on back-to-back possessions to cut the Explorers’ lead to 11-9.
- The two teams traded baskets to begin the second quarter before Connor extended La Salle’s lead to 22-17 with a long range bomb in the face of the defense.
- Connor then found junior Anna Przyszlak in the corner, who gave the Blue and Gold their largest lead of the game, 25-19.
- After a scoreless final two minutes of the first half, the Explorers remained atop the Minutewomen 28-23. La Salle is yet to lose a game this season when leading at half with a 5-0 record.
- The Minutewomen got the second half underway on a 5-0 run, tying the game at 28.
- It took the Explorers three minutes to find the scoring column in the second half until junior Ayisse Magassa ignited a 6-0 run with two layups, recapturing the lead (34-28) for La Salle.
- Massachusetts would then go on a run of their own, scoring ten straight to recapture the lead (38-34) for the first time since early in the second quarter.
- Knocking down a three-pointer in her third straight game, Fox cut the lead to one, 38-37.
- Jumpstarting another run, the Minutewomen scored 11 unanswered at the start of the fourth quarter. Junior Alisa Blalock eventually put an end to the run with a steal and a dime to Przyszlak.
- Continuing her strong play, Ivy Fox knocked down her second three of the game, pushing her point total to 12. Her two three’s and 12 points each represent career highs for the Coffeyville C.C. transfer. Still, the Explorers trailed by 9, 51-42 with six minutes remaining.
- In the final minutes, freshman Sania Jenkins scored five points on a three and two free throws. Despite the strong finish by the Narrabeen, Australia native, La Salle would fall to Massachusetts by a final score of 60-50.
Thank you so much for the story!