Women beat Dukes, lose to Spiders

By Anthony Bonagura
Collegian Staff
February 7, 2007

The La Salle women’s basketball team and the Duquesne Dukes both held three-game losing streaks heading into Friday. Meeting up on the same court meant that one team had to snap the detested streak. The Explorers moved ahead early in the matchup and defeated Duquesne 79-52.

Sophomore point guard Tara Lapetina dribbles past a Duquesne defender in Friday’s game - Mike Dao

After losing to Massachusetts by only two points Jan. 22, and then losing the next two following games to Richmond and highly-ranked George Washington by more than 20 points, La Salle needed a win. It was also very important to capture a victory before the longest conference road trip of the season, which was coming up next. The Explorers climbed to an even 4-4 in the A-10 with the win.

“It was huge [snapping the three-game skid]; it was imperative that we played well,” La Salle head coach Tom Lochner said. “I was hoping that we would get the win. It was big, having dropped our last two at home, so it was important for us.”

The matchup was in favor of the Explorers at the start, considering that Duquesne (7-14, 2-6) was wrapping up a four-game road trip on a three-game losing skid. To add to their quandaries, the Dukes were plagued by injuries. They had only nine available players, as four others were on injured reserve.

Duquesne started the game in a two-three zone; however, they could not capitalize on defense, giving up an early three-pointer to sophomore Tara Lapetina (4.6 ppg, 3.7 apg). Lapetina made a no-look, behind-the-back pass in transition to Gibbons in the second half. Lapetina finished with six points and four assists.

The Explorers were too aggressive for Duquesne inside the paint, and they shot 56 percent from the field in the first half.

Freshman Morgan Robertson (3.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg) entered the game off the bench after a superb performance the previous Sunday against George Washington. Robertson finished with a career-high-tying 13 points. Down the stretch in the first half, freshman Jamie Walsh (4.9 ppg, 46 percent 3-pt fg) and senior Jenna Graber (6.7 ppg, 43 percent 3-pt fg) hit back-to-back trifectas.

Walsh later gave a one-handed pass to an open Robertson on the block for an easy two. With three minutes remaining in the first half, La Salle climbed to a 19 point lead.

Junior Carlene Hightower (17.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg) was most impressive of all, with a team-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Crista Ricketts (17.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg) totaled nine points and two rebounds at the end of the game.

Even though the Explorers nearly doubled Duquesne’s points in the paint and had 30 bench points to Duquesne’s measly four, the most impressive stat of the night was that La Salle did not give up one fast break point. The Explorers had struggled with their transition defense against Richmond and improved against George Washington. The momentum certainly moved into the Duquesne game.

“We talked about coming off that weekend of three straight losses against Richmond and GW, that we needed to practice better,” Lochner said. “We sat down and everybody got together, and we committed ourselves and we had three very good days of practice where we got back on defense and were intense.”

Unfortunately, the Explorers fell to the host Xavier Musketeers (17-7, 5-3) just two days later on Sunday. In the loss, Ricketts moved into 39th place on the all-time A-10 scoring list with 1,544 points after tallying 17 points in the game. Alongside that, Ricketts reached the single-season 400 point marker for the first time in her career. For only the third time in school history, two players, Ricketts and Hightower, have scored 400 or more points in the same season.

The Explorers will not return to home action until Thursday, Feb. 22, when they will host the Charlotte 49ers. Until then, the Explorers have obstacles to maneuver on the road, including the biggest of all—Dawn Staley and her Temple Owls on Monday, Feb. 12 at the Liacouras Center.

bonaguraa1@lasalle.edu