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Women's Basketball Takes On Penn In Big 5 Tilt On Wednesday

WBB freshmen 2014-15

Women's Basketball | November 18, 2014

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball squad plays its second Big 5 opponent in as many games as the Explorers head over to the Palestra for a date with Penn on Wednesday at 7 pm.

La Salle Explorers (0-1, 0-1 Big 5) at Penn Quakers (0-1, 0-0 Big 5)
Wednesday, November 19 | 7:00 PM | The Palestra

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Game Notes
La Salle | Penn

Video Stream
The La Salle/Penn game will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network and shared through the A-10 Network. Anyone holding either a La Salle or Atlantic 10 subscription will be able to view the game for free through the A-10 Network.

All-Time Series
La Salle owns a commanding lead in the series, winning 33 of the 41 matchups dating back to 1974. However, the Explorers are looking to snap a two-game skid to the reigning Ivy League champions and for their first win at the Palestra since 2009.

Last Time Out vs. the Quakers
The Explorers dropped a 64-54 decision to the Quakers at Tom Gola Arena last season. Micahya Owens led all Explorers with 16 points and Khristin Lee added nine, while Alyssa Baron scored a game-high 23 points for the Quakers.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle is coming off of a tough 75-72 loss at Temple on Friday in the season opener for both squads. Micahya Owens led all Explorers with 18 points, and also posted four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Alicia Cropper put together an all-around effort with 16 points, seven rebounds, a game-high-tying six assists and one steal. Siobhan Beslow reached double figures with 10 points and pulled down a team-best eight boards. Jasmine Alston dished out six assists to match Cropper for game-high honors, while grabbing a team-best four steals and chipping in three rebounds.

The squad was strong on ball control in the first outing, recording 19 assists to 14 turnovers. In contrast, last year's squad reached 19 assists only once with 23 helpers against UMass and reached the 10-assist mark in just 14 of the team's 30 games.

As projected, Friday's starting lineup consisted of Cropper, Owens, Beslow and Lee, along with newcomer Ebony Wells. Wells, a 6'2 center transfer from Florida State and Chipola College, scored seven points in her Explorer debut. Two freshmen also saw their first collegiate action, including Amy Griffin and Ashanti Freeland. Griffin drained two treys en route to nine points in her debut, and Freeland recorded four points, two rebounds, two steals and a block in her first action.

Cropper was selected to the Atlantic 10 Preseason Second Team after earning Second Team honors in 2013-14. She is the team's leading returning scorer after draining 14.7 ppg last season. Owens, an All-Rookie selection last season, averaged 13.7 ppg in 2013-14.

Scouting the Quakers
Penn opened up the 2014-15 campaign at fourth-ranked Tennessee on Friday, leading the Lady Vols through the second media timeout before eventually falling 97-52 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Sydney Stipanovich recorded six blocks, one block shy of tying the opponent single-game record of seven set by Brittney Griner. Beth Brzozowski led the Quakers with 11 points in her collegiate debut, and Stipanovich and senior Kara Bonenberger added nine apiece.

The Quakers look to be solid again this season as they tied with Princeton for first place in the Ivy League preseason poll. Penn captured the Ivy League title last season with a regular season finale win at Princeton to earn the league's automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament.

The squad is, however, without the services of reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and Penn second-all-time leading scorer Alyssa Baron for the first time in four years. Stipanovich and Bonenberger return to lead the offense after averaging 12.0 ppg and 10.9 ppg, respectively. Bonenberger was efficient last year, hitting 52.2 percent of her attempted shots. The duo also led the team in rebounding last year. Stipanovich averaged 8.3 boards per game and Bonenberger added 6.5 per game. Stipanovich also averaged 3.4 blocks per game, totaling 99 in her rookie season last year. She became just the fourth Penn player ever to surpass the 100-block mark when she rejected six in the first game of her sophomore season at Tennessee on Friday.

Next Up
The Explorers are set for their home opener on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 4pm against Howard. The game is the second in a doubleheader with the men's team, which hosts Saint Peter's at 12:30 pm.
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Players Mentioned

Jasmine Alston

#11 Jasmine Alston

G
5' 9"
Sophomore
Siobhan Beslow

#2 Siobhan Beslow

F
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
Alicia Cropper

#14 Alicia Cropper

G
5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
Khristin Lee

#3 Khristin Lee

G
5' 9"
Graduate Student
Micahya Owens

#34 Micahya Owens

F
5' 11"
Sophomore
Amy Griffin

#21 Amy Griffin

G/F
6' 1"
Freshman
Ebony Wells

#31 Ebony Wells

F/C
6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
Ashanti Freeland

#44 Ashanti Freeland

F
6' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jasmine Alston

#11 Jasmine Alston

5' 9"
Sophomore
G
Siobhan Beslow

#2 Siobhan Beslow

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
F
Alicia Cropper

#14 Alicia Cropper

5' 7"
Redshirt Senior
G
Khristin Lee

#3 Khristin Lee

5' 9"
Graduate Student
G
Micahya Owens

#34 Micahya Owens

5' 11"
Sophomore
F
Amy Griffin

#21 Amy Griffin

6' 1"
Freshman
G/F
Ebony Wells

#31 Ebony Wells

6' 2"
Redshirt Junior
F/C
Ashanti Freeland

#44 Ashanti Freeland

6' 3"
Freshman
F