PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – La Salle scored 11 unanswered points to open the fourth quarter, breaking a 43-all deadlock, en route to a 62-52 win over Norfolk State on Sunday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena. The Explorers (1-8) snapped a 14-game losing streak dating back to last season and gave head coach Mountain MacGillivray his first win.
La Salle could not be stopped in the final period, shooting 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the field and making four of its five attempts from deep. The Explorers made 31-percent of their treys in the game after entering the contest ranked 348th in Division I in 3-point field goal percentage.
Sophomore guard Michelle Nicholls hit on five of her 10 treys as part of a career-best 17 points.
Norfolk State (3-5) went cold from deep at the wrong time, missing six of its seven shots from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. After missing four treys in the first quarter, the Spartans shot 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from deep in the second and third periods.
Deja King put the Explorers ahead for good with a foul shot 15 seconds into the fourth quarter. After a steal and layup by Rayshel Brown, Jeryn Reese netted the next eight points as La Salle pushed its lead to 54-43 with 6:31 to go.
Consecutive layups by
Raven Russell brought NSU to within seven, 57-50, with 4:32 left on the clock. After scoring on a transition layup, Russell stole the ensuing inbound pass a put the ball back in.
Russell was one of three Spartans to score in double figures on Sunday and led the team with 15 points. The senior shot 6-of-14 from the field, grabbed six rebounds and assisted on two baskets.
After Russell's second bucket, Norfolk State went scoreless for the next four minutes and 20 seconds. During that span, the Spartans missed six-straight shots and turned the ball over twice as La Salle built a 62-50 advantage.
Alexys Long's transition layup with 12 seconds remaining broke NSU's scoring drought and produced the final margin.
Long scored a season-high 14 points in the loss, hit two treys and grabbed three rebounds.
The Spartans entered the intermission ahead by three, 30-27, but the Explorers regained the lead on the strength of an 11-0 run in the first part of the third quarter.
Russell opened the second half with five-straight points, but then NSU went nearly six minutes without a point. The Spartans would not score again until
De'Janaire Deas' offensive rebound and put-back at the 3:11 mark of the quarter.
Less than a minute later,
Kendrea Dawkins put the Spartans back ahead on a trey, but NSU's 40-38 lead would not last long as seven seconds later a pair of La Salle free throws knotted the score once again.
King connected on a trey at the 1:42 mark to put the Explorers on top 43-40, but Dawkins answered on the next possession for the fifth tie of the contest.
Dawkins scored 11 points off the bench and blocked two shots. The redshirt-junior forward set a career-high with three treys on 75-percent shooting.
A hint of what was to come, La Salle shot 40 percent from both the field and from behind the arc in the third quarter. In a game of two halves, the Explorers made 48.1 percent of their shots from the field in the final two quarters, including six of their 10 3-pointers.
An early five points from Nicholls put La Salle ahead 9-4 with 5:39 left in the first quarter. Nicholls broke a 4-4 tie with her first trey of the game at the 7:04 mark then scored on a jumper roughly two minutes later.
Armani Franklin sparked a slow-starting NSU offense with just under four minutes to go in the period. The sophomore guard intercepted an errant pass then scored on a breakaway layup to pull the Spartans to within three, 9-6. After Franklin's transition bucket, Norfolk State made two of its last three shots and netted nine points to end the period.
Norfolk State took its first lead of the game in the dying seconds of the opening frame. A pair of foul shots by Franklin knotted the score at 14-all with 21 seconds to play.
Khadedra Croker then put the Spartans ahead when she split of pair of free throws with three seconds remaining.
Long scored eight of her 14 points in the second quarter as NSU jumped ahead to a three-point halftime lead. Her first 3-pointer gave the Spartans an 18-16 edge inside the first 20 seconds of play and sparked a 7-0 run that produced a 22-16 lead, which matched Norfolk State's largest in the half.
The Spartans went to the foul line 11 times in the first half and sank eight attempts. NSU did not attempt a free throw in the second half.
Norfolk State turned the ball over 26 times in the loss, 13 times in each half. La Salle scored 19 points off those giveaways. While the Explorers only committed 14 turnovers, the Spartans netted 17 points off turnovers.
Norfolk State out-rebounded La Salle 40-33.
Dana Echols snatched a season-high nine boards for the Spartans. Shalina Miller grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with 14 points, five blocks and three steals.
The Spartans return home and play host to Longwood on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
