La Salle stalls after quick start in Wooden Legacy tournament loss to Miami
La Salle jumped out to an early lead, but the Hurricanes countered with a 12-0 run and were never headed.
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FULLERTON, Calif. — La Salle jumped out to an early lead against Miami on Thursday, but the Hurricanes countered with a 12-0 run and were never headed, knocking off the Explorers, 85-49, in the first round of the Wooden Legacy tournament in Fullerton, Calif.
Junior Traci Carter got in early foul trouble, and the Explorers (0-5) struggled on offense, while Miami (4-0) exploded to a 31-point lead at intermission.
"Difficult loss to start this tournament," coach Ashley Howard said. "We came into this tournament really optimistic that we'd be able to come out here and turn a corner. … I felt like losing Traci Carter early in the first half really impacted our team's ability to function and felt like we fell apart in the first half. But … we battled to the end."
It was a dunk-fest early, as Miami guard Anthony Lawrence dunked for the game's first basket and later had a breakaway dunk, His teammates were in on the slam-dunk party all game as well.
In the second half, La Salle's full-court press forced 12 Miami turnovers, but the Explorers failed to get close.
Five Hurricanes scored in double figures, led by freshman Chris Lykes with 18. Jared Kimbrough led the Explorers with 10 points, on 5-for-5 shooting.
La Salle will play Northwestern, which lost to Fresno State, 78-59, in the consolation round, on Friday afternoon, on ESPN2 or ESPNU.