La Salle women pull away late to beat Binghamton in the WNIT, will face Army next
Aryss Macktoon led La Salle with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists while head coach Mountain MacGillivray notched his 100th career win on Monday.
After breaking a 34-year old WNIT appearance drought, La Salle defeated Binghamton 70-61 on Monday in the second round of the WNIT Tournament.
La Salle (19-13) was granted a first-round bye after matching their win total of the last two seasons combined. With the win, the Explorers move on to a Super Sixteen matchup against Army at West Point on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN+).
“We’re going to make the most of it,” said redshirt junior guard Ashleigh Connor. “We’re not here just to play this one game and say we made it. We’re here to go all the way to the end.”
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The game was tight through the first three-and-half quarters until La Salle ultimately pulled away. Aryss Macktoon led La Salle with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.
La Salle was also the beneficiary of poor shooting from Binghamton (20-13), who shot 2-for-17 from three.
“Postseasons are fun, right? It doesn’t matter which tournament it’s in,” said Explorers coach Mountain MacGillivray, who notched his 100th career win on Monday. “You’re still playing basketball and half the country isn’t. That’s a lot of fun. … That was a really nice crowd to play in front of, it made it feel like a postseason game.”
Connor was next-up in the statsheet. She logged 17 points and eight rebounds on the day while sophomore guard Joan Quinn came away with 10 points and three assists.
“I’m grateful that they all trust me to take that shot and take a tough shot,” said Macktoon.
For Binghamton, junior guard Leah Middleton notched a team-high 15 points and three rebounds. Additionally, Bearcats junior forward Kendall Bennett, a Philadelphia native and Germantown Academy graduate, notched 12 points and grabbed 11 boards.
La Salle’s defense allowed the Explorers to come away with the WNIT win. The Explorers allowed just nine points in the fourth quarter as they routinely shut down the Bearcats..
In the postgame press conference, when asked about the team’s defense in the fourth quarter, Connor looked over to Macktoon sitting alongside her.
“When your roommate is the Defensive Player of the Year,” Connor said, smiling, “you kind of learn a lot as the season goes on.”