La Salle Explorers at Saint Louis Billikens
Saturday, Jan. 7 | 5 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Central
Chaifetz Arena | St. Louis, Mo.

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PHILADELPHIA - The Explorers, winners of three straight games and four of their last six, look to propel that success into the Atlantic 10 season, which starts on Saturday with a 5 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Central tipoff at Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University.

The young series with the Billikens is tied at 3-all, with the Explorers 82-77 winners of last season's meeting at Gola Arena behind 21 points from Ashley Gale and 20 from Alexis Scott.

Five of the six contests between La Salle and Saint Louis have been decided by 10 points or less, with two of those going into overtime.

Scouting La Salle (6-9, 0-0 Atlantic 10)...

The squad closed out 2011 with back-to-back wins at Dartmouth's Blue Sky Classic, knocking off both host Dartmouth and Vermont. Scott, who averaged 14.0 ppg in the tournament, and Brittany Wilson, who set a La Salle career high with 29 points against Vermont, both earned All-Tournament Team honors.

Wilson once again led in scoring to open the new year, pouring in 21 points as the Explorers cruised past Northeastern, 75-60.

Scott and Wilson both average double figures, at 13.3 ppg and 12.8 ppg, respectively. Jada Payne chips in 7.9 ppg and Nadia Duncan, who came two shy of a career high with 18 points at Northeastern, upped her average to 7.7 ppg.

Ruvanna Campbell moved up to third in the Atlantic 10 in overall rebounding with 8.7 rpg, after posting two double-digit rebounding efforts in the past three games. She set a new career/season best with 16 boards against Dartmouth.

With 28 blocked shots on the season, Campbell moved into a tie for ninth place on the all-time single season record list. She is currently tied with Shannon McDade (1999-00), and one more block moves her into a tie for eighth with Mary Heller (1992-93). Her 28 blocks also rank her as the third best freshman blocker in a single season in La Salle history. She needs just nine more to break the freshman record, set by Suzi McCaffrey with 36 blocks in 1982-83.

Scouting Saint Louis (6-9, 0-0 Atlantic 10)...

The Billikens enter Saturday's contest with an identical 6-9 record and are winners of their final two nonconference games. They topped St. Francis (Pa.) 66-63 at the Washington Dental Service Holiday Hoops Tournament at Seattle University to close out 2011, before rolling past Nebraska-Omaha 81-54 on Tuesday.

Courtney Webb is the only Billiken averaging double figures, with 12.3 ppg and a season-high 23 points in a 70-67 loss to UMKC. Desirae Ball adds 9.2 ppg and Jacy Bradley scores 8.5 ppg. Bradley recently put up 24 points in the win over St. Francis.

Lorreal Jones looks to go toe-to-toe with Campbell on the boards, as she averages an Atlantic 10 second-best 8.8 rebounds per contest.

Next Up...

La Salle returns from its four-game road trip on Wednesday (1/11) when the Explorers host Fordham in a contest that tips off at noon.