Courtesy: Brady Smith, Associate Director of Athletic Communications
Release: 01/24/2006
PHILADELPHIA - The Quaker women's basketball team dropped its last Big
5 game of the season at La Salle, 67-49, on Tuesday evening at the Tom
Gola Arena.
Penn (3-13, 0-4 Big 5) kept the game close on the strength of six
three-pointers in the first half, but the Explorers shot 44.8 percent
from the field and outrebounded the Quakers 26-13 in the second frame
to pull away with the win.
La Salle (10-8, 1-2 Big 5) got things going in the opening minutes of
the game with a 12-2 run before Penn heated up from beyond the arc for
a 15-2 run of its own. Just two Quakers were responsible for five
straight three-pointers in the run - freshman Carrie Biemer nailed
three while sophomore Kimbery Franklin, who came into the game
shooting under 20 percent from the field, hit two.
After the Explorers regained the lead on a jumper by Crista Ricketts
at the six-minute mark, Franklin stepped up and drained another
three-pointer to give the Quakers a two-point advantage.
Penn's Jennifer Fleischer hit a shot on the next possesion to put her
team ahead by four, but La Salle used a 9-2 run to close out the half
with a 29-26 lead.
La Salle came out strong in the second half, jumping out to a 10-point
lead in the first five minutes. Penn cut the deficit to five points
after two good foul shots by Katarina Lackner and a three-point basket
by Kelly Scott, but it would be as close as they would get for the
remainder of the contest.
The Explorers' Tara Lapetina immediately responded with a three-pointer
of her own on the other end, keyed by an offensive rebound by Melanie
Gibbons, which was the dominant theme of the second half.
La Salle beat Penn on the boards, 48-27, for the game, which included
21 offensive rebounds (13 in the second half alone), while the Quakers
shot just 26.7 percent from the field in the second stanza, including
1-of-9 from three-point-land.
Franklin and Biemer paced Penn with 13 points each while Fleischer
led the team with six rebounds.
Ricketts was strong for La Salle, notching a double-double with 16
points and 10 boards, while Shaune McLaughlin added 14 points and
eight assists on the evening.
The Quakers return to action on Friday, Feb. 3, when they travel to
Brown for an Ivy League match-up that will tip-off at 7 p.m.
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