Davidson Drops Tough 65-58 Decision to La Salle at Home

Saturday, January 21

Davidson, N.C.

2:00 p.m.

Davidson College

3-16, 1-6 A-10

La Salle

11-8, 4-3 A-10

La Salle

Davidson

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Davidson Drops Tough 65-58 Decision to La Salle at Home

1/21/2017 5:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Associate SID

Box Score (pdf)
Game Highlights | In-Game Highlights
DavidsonPhotos.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. — In a game that went down to the final 30 seconds, Davidson came up short in dropping a tough 65-58 decision to visiting La Salle Saturday afternoon in Atlantic 10 women's basketball inside John M. Belk Arena.

Junior Mackenzie Latt paced Davidson with 22 points and pocketed a career-high nine steals after setting her previous career best Wednesday vs. George Mason with six. She also added seven rebounds.

Chloe Johnson record career highs of 16 points and seven rebounds, while Saadia Timpton matched her season best with eight points. Despite an off-shooting day for Justine Lyon, the sophomore pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, personal-best seven on offense, to go with six points.

The Wildcats were up by six (37-31) in the third quarter and led 47-46 in the final quarter, before the Explorers used a quick 7-0 run to grab a 53-47 lead. Melanie Ransom (layup), Timpton (jumper) and Latt (jumper) tied it up at 53-all on Davidson's next three possessions, but La Salle took the lead for good with a layup and 3:48 left on the clock.

Later with 2:16 to go, a Latt steal and fast-break layin got Davidson within two at 58-56. After a couple of stops on defense, twice Davidson missed a chance to tie it and was forced to foul. After La Salle's Amy Griffin hit two free throws, Johnson went from one end of the court to the other and hit a layup with 26 ticks left to make it 60-58.

It would be as close as the 'Cats (3-16, 1-6 A-10) got as Griffin hit two more free throws and then put in a layup with 14 seconds to go to seal the win.

Griffin, who leads the A-10 in scoring, finished with a game-high 26 points and added 11 rebounds to pace La Salle (11-8, 4-3 A-10). Micahya Owens added 11 points off the bench, while Jasmine Alston filled the box score with 12 rebounds, eight assists and seven points.

For the second game in a row Davidson went into halftime with the lead, outscoring La Salle 16-9 in the second quarter to erase a 14-13 first-quarter deficit to grab a 29-23 advantage.

La Salle used a 15-4 run in the last 3;09 of the third quarter to erase the 'Cats six-point lead and take 46-41 lead into the final quarter. It hit three of its five three-pointers for the game during that stretch.

The Wildcats dominated the paint with 38 points and scored 21 points off of 21 La Salle turnovers. The Explorers won the battle on the boards, 48-44, but the 'Cats did haul in a game-high 18 offensive rebounds.

Davidson hits the road next for a 7 p.m. contest at St. Bonaventure Wednesday, Jan. 25.

GAME NOTES: This was the fourth meeting all-time between the two schools women's basketball programs … La Salle now leads 3-1 in the series … Latt has scored in double figures in the last 16 straight games, while Lyon saw her career-best streak come to an end at nine games in a row … led by Latt's nine steals, the 'Cats had their ninth game of the season with double-digit steals by pocketing 14 … the 44-rebound effort was Davidson's 10th game reaching the 40-board mark … Ally Welling came off the bench for four points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal … Latt's 20-point outing was her fifth of the season and the 10th of her career.