Women's Basketball | November 26, 2014

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball squad will return to the LIU Turkey Classic at LIU Brooklyn for a two-game set against the host Blackbirds and Towson this weekend. The Explorers are familiar with the Classic, as the team participated in it as recently as the 2011-12 season. Tipoff against the Blackbirds is Friday at 2 pm, and game time is set for 4:30 pm on Sunday against the Tigers.

La Salle Explorers (2-2) at LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (0-2)
Friday, November 28 | 2:00 PM | Steinberg Wellness Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDay

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La Salle Explorers (2-2) vs. Towson Tigers (2-2)
Saturday, November 29 | 4:30 PM | Steinberg Wellness Center
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDay

Game Notes
La Salle | LIU Brooklyn | Towson

Video Stream
Both games against LIU Brooklyn and Towson will be streamed free on NEC Front Row.

All-Time Series vs. Blackbirds
La Salle and LIU Brooklyn have met six times prior, with the last in the LIU Turkey Classic on Nov. 26, 2011. The Explorers own a 5-1 edge in the series with the Blackbirds that dates back to 1981; however, LIU Brooklyn took the last meeting 69-53. The two squads met in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009, with the Explorers winning both contests in the home and away series.

All-Time Series vs. Tigers
Saturday is the first meeting of the Explorers and Tigers since 1996. The two squads have met four times previously with the Explorers having won three of those, including the clash in 1996 in the CoreStates Classic. Towson's lone win in the series was an 84-72 victory in 1980.

Scouting the Explorers

La Salle enters the weekend on a two-game win streak after outlasting Howard 65-64 for the first win of the season and cruising past Manhattan 61-48 on Tuesday. Ebony Wells recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds against Howard, and Micahya Owens tied her career high of 23 points against Manhattan.

Owens averaged 22.0 ppg in the two wins, and is currently leading the team with 16.0 ppg through the first four games of the 2014-15 campaign. She is bettering her freshman average of 13.7 ppg last season, which had earned her Atlantic 10 All-Rookie status. Owens adds 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest as well.

Wells has made an immediate impact in her first four games in an Explorer uniform, after prior stops at Florida State and Chipola College. The Grovetown, Ga., native averaged a double-double of 13.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg in the two wins and is averaging 9.5 ppg and a team-high 8.0 rpg on the season so far.

Siobhan Beslow has contributed 7.3 ppg as well, and is leading the team with eight blocked shots while adding 5.8 boards per game. Jasmine Alston has played a solid all-around game, leading the team with 11 total steals and 20 total assists (5.0 apg). She chips in 4.3 ppg and 3.3 rpg.

The Explorers are shooting 35.0 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from long range, and are posting a +7.0 rebounding margin (45.0 rpg to 38.0 rpg). They lit up from three in the last two games, going 44.0 percent from long range. 

Scouting the Blackbirds

LIU Brooklyn is in search of its first win of the season after dropping its first two games to Maine and former NEC foe Monmouth. The Blackbirds fell 65-59 to Maine in the season opener before losing 78-57 to Monmouth.

The Blackbirds have been struggling to find offensive rhythm following the graduation last year's leading scorer and First Team All-NEC honoree Cleandra Roberts (18.2 ppg). Sophia Bhasin is the leading returning scorer after averaging 10.6 ppg last season, and is averaging 11.5 ppg through the first two games of this year. Jolanna Ford, Shanovia Dove and Brianna Farris are all tied for second on the team in scoring with 8.0 ppg through two games. Ford and Dove are adding 5.0 boards per game. Letava Whippy is leading the team with 8.5 rpg, and averaged 8.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg last season along with a team-high 59 steals. 

The Blackbirds have shot just 29.5 percent from the field and a paltry 13.6 percent (6-for-44) from long range. They were picked to finish eighth in the 10-team Northeast Conference in this year's preseason poll.

Scouting the Tigers

Towson is an even 2-2, after dropping games to Penn State and North Dakota while beating Rider and UMBC in the Preseason WNIT. The Tigers will face Rhode Island on Friday in the LIU Turkey Classic before the meeting with the Explorers on Saturday.

LaTorri Hines-Allen and Dominique Johnson are the power duo for the Tigers, with the majority of the offense running through them. Hines-Allen, a Preseason All-CAA First Team pick, is averaging a double-double of 16.0 ppg and 11.3 rpg. Her numbers are up from last year, when she hit for 14.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, respectively. Johnson is averaging a team-high 17.3 ppg through the first four games. A Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention pick, Johnson averaged 10.3 points per outing last season.

After that, the offense drops off considerably, with the third highest scorer (Markell Smith) averaging 6.8 ppg. Smith contributes 7.8 boards as well. 

Towson is averaging 57.0 ppg as a team, while hitting 33.5 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from three.

The Tigers were selected to finish fifth in the CAA this season.

Next Up

The Explorers stay on the road next week as they pay a visit to Robert Morris on Wednesday (12/3) in their second contest against an NEC opponent this season.