Women drop third straight: Explorers blown out by George Washington

By Anthony Bonagura
Collegian Staff
January 31, 2007

After falling short against Massachusetts and Richmond, the La Salle University women’s basketball team hosted the nationally-ranked George Washington Colonials on Sunday. The Explorers lost to the Colonials, 71-47.

The 11/12th ranked GW Colonials (18-2, 7-0) took over during the first six minutes of the game, and they led by 12. The Colonials’ physical defense only allowed La Salle to make three shots from the field during the first half. The Explorers’ first-half shooting drought left them shooting 12 percent from the floor.

Jessica Adair (13.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg) was too much inside the paint for the Explorers, and she finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. She was a big part of GW’s impressive 50 percent first-half field goal shooting. Sarah-Jo Lawrence (12.6 ppg, 48 percent fg) had a stand-out game with 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

“I thought, in particular, our rebounding was pretty good,” La Salle Coach Tom Lochner said. “In the first half we did a great job of keeping them off the glass. Our transition defense, which really wasn’t good at all against Richmond, was better today.”

Saying that the Explorers were overmatched against George Washington is an understatement if each team’s average height is taken into account. The Colonials had seven players listed as six feet or taller. Considering that GW was far more active inside the paint because of their height, credit must be handed to the Explorers knowing that they grabbed one less rebound. The Explorers deserve some credit for keeping within one rebound of the much-larger Colonials.

La Salle (15-7, 3-4) could not capitalize from three-point range, only making three shots from downtown in the whole game. Jenna Graber (6.9 ppg, 43 percent 3-pt fg), who is known to float around the perimeter, only hit one three-pointer. She ended her day with three points. Carlene Hightower (17.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg) had an off day, shooting 0-for-10 from the field. She finished with six points.

Crista Ricketts (17.4 ppg, 7.8 rpg) ended the day with a team-high 16 points, in addition to four rebounds. Ricketts was clutch from the charity stripe, making eight of 10. Despite a tough loss for La Salle, Ricketts made a historic achievement during this A-10 matchup. She moved up to third all-time in career points at La Salle (1,518 points).

“It’s a good accomplishment, but we’re in a three-game losing streak,” said Ricketts, who wasn’t even aware of the remarkable feat. “We had nothing to lose. We just wanted to go out and play our best, but our shots didn’t fall and they were a little bigger.”

Whenever a tough loss is at hand, a coach’s perspective is to look at the improvements. Freshman Morgan Robertson (3.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg) saw 16 minutes of floor time and added six points and four rebounds off the bench. Alongside Robertson, freshman Jamie Walsh (4.4 ppg, 42 percent 3-pt fg) saw significant minutes at the point, dishing out two assists to complement her six points – the only other two Explorer three-pointers.

“We have to learn from this loss,” Coach Lochner said. “I told the team we still have half of our A-10 schedule left this year and we have to continue to get better. Playing against a team like George Washington should make us better.”

The loss was the largest margin of defeat for the La Salle women at the Tom Gola Arena since Jan. 13, 2002.

The Explorers hope to snap a three-game losing streak against Duquesne (7-12, 2-4) on Friday. The schedule is dwindling down, and every game is even more important than the previous one. At this point in the season, the women’s basketball team holds their own destiny.

bonaguraa1@lasalle.edu