Miami University
La Salle
RedHawks' Fourth Quarter Surge Not Enough Against Explorers
11/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WILMINGTON, N.C. - A 27-point fourth quarter was not enough to erase a 19-point deficit as the Miami women's basketball team fell to La Salle, 79-70, at the UNC Wilmington Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon.
The loss is Miami's (2-3) third straight as it drops below .500 for the first time this season.
"I didn't like our mentality on offense for most of the game," head coach Cleve Wright said. "We did some nice things when we played with urgency, but it took us too long to get there. We dug ourselves into a hole and just couldn't dig out of it. I felt like we were on the edge of getting back into the game a number of times, but we need to not wait before taking a hit to get going."
Miami had a tough time offensively at the start of the game, committing turnovers on its first three possessions. La Salle opened up a 9-0 lead within the first three minutes, prompting a timeout by MU to get settled. A Leah Purvis free throw finally broke the team's scoring drought with 7:02 left in the first quarter and a Kristen Levering three-pointer cut the deficit to 11-4 and represented the RedHawks' first field goal almost midway through the opening frame.
Trailing 13-4, the Red and White got things going offensively, finishing the quarter on a 9-1 run to cut the gap to 14-13 after 10 minutes. Four different players chipped in a field goal during that spurt, with Lauren Dickerson canning a three and Jazz Smith's layup finishing the scoring in the quarter.
The RedHawks' surge continued at the start of the second as Savannah Kluesner hit a pair of free throws and Abbey Hoff converted a layup to put them up 17-14 a minute and a half into the quarter. With Miami on top 19-16, La Salle reeled off eight-straight points to go on top 24-19. That was quickly countered by a 12-3 Miami spurt capped by back-to-back threes by Leah Purvis and Hoff to make it a 30-26 ballgame with 2:44 to go until halftime.
That Hoff three-pointer represented the final points for Miami in the first half as La Salle finished the frame on a 6-0 run, breaking the tie to go on top 32-30 on a pair of free throws necessitated by a loose ball foul at the buzzer.
Lauren Dickerson drained a three-pointer to give the Red and White a 33-32 lead in the first minute of the second half. However, Miami went cold over the next 2:26 and La Salle scored eight in a row to grab a 40-33 lead, the largest for either team to that point. That gap continued to grow as the RedHawks only added two free throws to their point total while the Explorers went on a 22-2 run to balloon their lead to 19 at 54-35 with 3:48 to go in the quarter.
Miami picked up the pace and struck for 27 points in the fourth quarter as it tried to mount a comeback, but it could not get any closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The RedHawks shot 37.7 percent from the field while hitting 9-of-27 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc while the Explorers hit 36.8 percent from the floor and 5-of-10 (50 percent) from three. Miami went 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) at the line while La Salle hit 18-of-20 (90 percent) from the charity stripe. The Explorers held a 47-45 edge in rebounding and forced 17 RedHawk turnovers against 11 of their own.
Dickerson posted her second 20-point game of the year to lead the Red and White, finishing with exactly that many on 7-of-20 shooting (4-of-11 from three) while dishing four assists. Megan Galloway led Mu with 14 rebounds.
The RedHawks wrap up their tournament weekend against Providence on Sunday. Opening tip is at noon.
