PHILADELPHIA - A noontime showdown awaits the La Salle women's basketball squad when Saint Louis comes to Tom Gola Arena on Wednesday.

Saint Louis Billikens (10-13, 4-4 Atlantic 10) @ La Salle Explorers (7-16, 3-5 Atlantic 10)
Tom Gola Arena | Philadelphia, Pa.
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013 | 12:00 p.m.

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The Match-Up

The Explorers and Billikens meet for the eighth time, with the Explorers holding a 4-3 advantage after winning the last two. Former Explorer Ruvanna Campbell converted a traditional three-point play with less than 30 seconds as the squad came from behind to knock off the Billikens 53-52 last season at Chaifetz Arena. Campbell added a game-high 14 rebounds. Former Explorer Nadia Duncan led the squad with 13 points and Brittany Wilson added 12.

Scouting the Explorers

The squad looks to bounce back from a disappointing loss at Xavier on Sunday after leading by as many as 14 midway through the second half. Shanel Harrison led all scorers with 17 points and tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds. She also added two assists and two steals. Ebonee Jones added 15 points and six rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.

The team was without A-10 leading scorer Brittany Wilson (18.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg) for a third straight game. Wilson is listed as day-to-day on the injury report.

Harrison has helped fill the scoring void, hitting double figures in the last six consecutive games and averaging 16.2 ppg over that stretch. That includes a career-high 29 in the Explorers' 71-55 win at Temple and 15 in a 68-57 win at Massachusetts. She has also led the defense, pulling down 7.8 rebounds in that six game stretch including 12 against Butler and nine each against UMass and Xavier.

Jones is also right up there with Harrison in scoring, averaging 16.0 ppg while hitting double figures in each of the last five games dating back to the Temple contest. She has played all 40 minutes in three out of the last five and reached the 21-point mark (one off her career high) twice in the last five. She has also pulled down 5.8 rebounds per game in the last five, better than her season average of 5.0 rpg.

Siobhan Beslow has gotten the start in place of Wilson in the last three, averaging 6.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in those three while averaging 35.0 minutes. She has hit seven of her 13 attempts from the floor over the last three games, scoring six points apiece in each contest.

Karynda DuPree is also stepping up defensively. She has averaged 6.3 rebounds per game in the last three, better than her season average of 3.8 rpg. She also chipped in eight points against George Washington and six against Fordham. The 6-4 freshman has also recorded at least one blocked shot in all but five games this season, and is currently on a five-game streak with at least one rejection. She led all players with three at Xavier on Sunday.

As a team, the Explorers rank third in the Atlantic 10 with 15.0 offensive rebounds per game, fourth with 5.0 blocked shots per game and sixth in the league with 8.6 steals per game. The team also has a positive turnover margin (+0.65) to rank seventh in that category.

Scouting the Billikens

Saint Louis is coming off of a 54-50 loss at Temple on Sunday. Jacy Bradley scored a game-high 19 points and moved into sixth place on SLU's all-time three-pointer list. Desirae Ball added 13 points and Lorreal Jones pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Billikens are an even 4-4 in the league, with wins over VCU, Richmond, Xavier and UMass and losses to Duquesne, Saint Joseph's, Charlotte and Temple.

Jones is the lone Billiken averaging double figures with 11.6 points per game. She also pulls down a team-best 8.6 rebounds per game, ranking her sixth in the Atlantic 10.

Bradley adds 9.6 ppg and chips in 4.2 rpg, and Ball rounds out the top three scorers with 9.1 ppg. Mallory Eggert is second on the squad with 6.0 boards per game, while chipping in 8.6 points.

The Billikens shoot 38.3 percent as a team, and score 53.7 points per game while yielding 57.6 points to opponents. The squad does a good job of limiting opponents chances on the glass, as the Billikens are the league's top team in rebounding defense, holding opponents to 32.9 rebounds per game.

Next Up

The Explorers make a second trip of the season to Richmond, this time to take on league newcomer VCU on Sunday (2/17) at 1 p.m.