UAlbany Women's Basketball Drops 70-59 Decision to La Salle

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Philadelphia, Pa. – Senior forward Carlene Hightower scored a game-high 22 points, including her 1,000th career point to lead La Salle to a 70-59 victory over UAlbany in non-conference women’s basketball action at Tom Gola Arena on Monday evening.

La Salle jumped out to an early 10-2 lead just two minutes into the game on 3-pointers by Hightower and Jamie Walsh. The Explorers continued to increase their lead, building up a 12-4 advantage with 16:38 left to play. La Salle received back-to-back treys from Walsh and Tara Lapetina to move ahead 18-6 with 14:32 on the clock.

UAlbany was held without a basket for three minutes, breaking the scoring drought on a lay-in by Britney McGee at 9:40 to cut the deficit to 23-11. The Great Danes proceeded to climb back into the game, outscoring the Explorers 11-1 to pull within 24-22 with 6:48 left to play. Joy Sterling and Gia Sanders hit consecutive baskets before TaNika Thrower recorded a steal and passed off to Janea Aiken to put the Great Danes within two.

The teams exchanged baskets to end the half, and a running jumper by Margaret Elderton as time expired set the 30-33 margin as the teams hit the locker rooms.

Both teams hit 3-pointers to start the second half, but La Salle embarked on a 9-0 run to get up by a score of 45-39 with 13:37 left to play. After Sanders dropped a 3-point basket from the top of the arc at 10:21 to pull within 49-46, the Explorers hit back-to-back shots from 3-point range to get ahead, 55-46 with just over nine minutes to play.

La Salle (2-2) held UAlbany without a point for over six minutes, while scoring 10, before Thrower hit a fadeaway jumper in the lane to put the score at 62-48 with 3:58 left in the game. The Great Danes continued to hit jump shots to pull within 10 points, 64-54, with 2:20 on the clock. However, the Explorers scored their last 12 points over the final 4:45 from the free throw stripe, with three each coming from Hightower and Elderton, to set the final deficit.

"We need to be more consistant on the road," said head coach Trina Patterson following the loss. "We are very young, so we're going to keep getting better, but we need to learn that consistancy and how to deal with hostile situations."

Aiken led the Great Danes offense, scoring 14 points, while Thrower added 13 on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Thrower also recorded five rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Great Danes. Sanders finished with a team-high six boards to go along with five points and three blocks.

Hightower finished with a double-double for the Explorers, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds, and added five assists, one steal and one block. Walsh netted 14 points for La Salle, while Elderton added nine.

UAlbany (1-3) returns to action on Friday, Nov. 23, as they face Holy Cross at the LIU Turkey Classic at 4 p.m.