Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – La Salle closed the game on a 10-2 run to edge out the Norfolk State women's basketball team, 67-59, in the first game of the Monmouth Hawk Holiday Classic on Tuesday afternoon at the Multipurpose Activity Center.
A layup by Spartan guard
Yazmen Hannah tied the game at 57-all with 4:10 left to play, but the Explorers (2-9) scored 10 of the game's final 12 points and held NSU (0-10) without a point until the last 20 seconds of the game to keep NSU winless on the year.
Adreana Miller broke the tie for La Salle with two free throws to give her team the lead for good, 59-57. Micahya Owens followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead to five. After Hannah's layup later tied the game at 57-all, NSU missed its next six shots and committed three turnovers in the final four minutes.
NSU started the game off slowly, hitting just 4-of-19 from the floor in scoring eight points in the first quarter. La Salle then started the second quarter on a 13-4 spurt, capped by an Owens layup, to take a 26-12 lead midway through the period.
The Spartans were the aggressors in the third quarter, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the period. A three-point play by Hannah brought NSU within 36-34 with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter. NSU took its first lead of the game at 42-41 on a jumper by
Kiara Phillips just over two minutes later, and the score was deadlocked at 46-all entering the final quarter.
Ebony Wells scored the first four points of the fourth quarter for La Salle to give the Explorers a 50-46 edge. NSU never led in the final stanza, but rallied to tie it on Hannah's steal and layup with 4:10 remaining. The Spartans, however, would not score again until
Siobhan Beslow's jumper with 19 seconds remaining and NSU trailing by 10.
Kayla Roberts led NSU with 14 points and seven rebounds. Beslow and
Koryn Lawrence scored 12 apiece and Hannah scored 11. Hannah added a game and career-high four steals.
Owens scored 20 points off the bench to lead all scorers for La Salle. Amy Griffin scored 16 and Wells 14 for the Explorers.
The Spartans play in the 1 p.m. consolation game Wednesday against St. Francis Brooklyn, which lost 63-54 to tourney host Monmouth in Tuesday's other game.
