#8 La Salle Explorers vs. #9 Xavier Musketeers
Friday, March 2 | 11:30 AM
Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena | Saint Joseph's University | Philadelphia, Pa.

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PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball squad, seeded eighth in the 2012 Buick Atlantic 10 Championship, opens tournament play on Friday morning at 11:30 against ninth-seeded and defending champion Xavier at Hagan Arena on the campus of Saint Joseph's University.

The Explorers and Musketeers met at Tom Gola Arena back on Jan. 14, with the Explorers taking a 63-51 win. Brittany Wilson netted 28 points in that contest to lead all scorers and earned Atlantic 10 and Big 5 Player of the Week honors that week for her effort.

Xavier holds a 24-9 edge all-time in a series that dates back to 1992. The Musketeers had won eight straight in the series prior to the Explorers' win in January.

La Salle and Xavier have met just once before in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, when the Musketeers took a 74-58 quarterfinal win in 2003.

Overall, La Salle is 9-13 in the Atlantic 10 Tournament since joining the league in 1995-96.

Scouting La Salle (13-16, 7-7 Atlantic 10)...

The Explorers are coming off of their best Atlantic 10 season since the 2006-07 squad also went 7-7 in league play, although they dropped their regular season finale to No. 2 Temple 71-44.

Jordan Mosley scored a team-best 12 points against the Owls and Michea Bryant added 10.

Wilson, an Atlantic 10 All-Conference Third Team pick, continues to lead the squad in scoring with 13.6 points per game. She finished the regular season ranked ninth in the league in overall scoring, and her 14.5 ppg in league play tied her for fifth in the rankings. She also finished third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage in A-10 play, hitting 41.2 percent (21-51) of her long-range shots.

Alexis Scott adds 12.0 ppg and Jada Payne chips in 8.8. Payne also recently earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie honors, becoming La Salle's fifth rookie selection since joining the A-10.

Ruvanna Campbell finished the regular season ranked fifth in the A-10 in overall rebounding, grabbing 8.0 boards per game. She is also fifth in the league in blocked shots, averaging 1.5 per contest with a total of 42. She needs just three more to crack the top three all-time at La Salle in single season blocked shots.

Scouting Xavier (8-19, 5-9 Atlantic 10)...

The Musketeers are coming off of an uncharacteristically rough season, finishing 5-9 in the Atlantic 10 after winning the league crown the past two seasons. They wrapped up the regular season with a 70-61 win over Massachusetts.

Atlantic 10 Third Teamer Tyeasha Moss leads a trio of Musketeers in double figures, averaging 13.6 ppg. Lynette Holmes adds 12.0 and Jessica Pachko chips in 10.6. Pachko is also the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 8.1 boards per game.

Xavier has advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship each year since it joined the league in 1995-96. The Musketeers own a 27-10 record in tournament play and have a league-best six titles.

Next Up...

The winner of No. 8 La Salle/No. 9 Xavier advances to the quarterfinal round on Saturday to face top-seeded St. Bonaventure (27-2, 14-0 Atlantic 10) at noon.