Women's Basketball | December 3, 2014

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball squad, fresh off of a 2-0 weekend over Thanksgiving and winner of four straight games, takes the show on the road once again on Wednesday night looking for a fifth straight win at Robert Morris at 7pm.

La Salle Explorers (4-2) at Robert Morris Colonials (2-3)
Wednesday, Dec. 3 | 7:00 PM | Charles L. Sewall Center
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Game Notes
La Salle | Robert Morris

Video Stream
The contest between La Salle and Robert Morris will be streamed free on NEC Front Row.

All-Time Series
La Salle and Robert Morris are unfamiliar foes, having only met three times in the series history and not since 2002. The Explorers own a 3-0 all-time record over the Colonials, as the two squads met in 1982, 1988 and 2002. The Explorers have averaged a +23.0 point margin in their victories over the Colonials in the past.

Scouting the Explorers
The Explorers, winners of four straight games dating back to Nov. 22, tied for first place in last weekend's LIU Turkey Classic with wins over LIU Brooklyn (71-66) and Towson (62-49). Jasmine Alston drained a career-high 18 points against Towson and grabbed a career-high eight steals against LIU Brooklyn, the most steals for an Explorer in at least five years. Alicia Cropper returned from injury to average 11 points per game in the Classic. The duo were named to the LIU Turkey Classic All-Tournament Team.

Micahya Owens also picked up Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week honors after her hand in all three of last week's wins. She tied her career high with 23 points in the home win over Manhattan, led the Explorers with 14 against LIU Brooklyn and chipped in 10 vs. Towson.

Owens is leading the team through the first six games with 14.7 ppg, while adding 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Cropper, who played in just her second and third games since sustaining injury in the season opener, is now averaging 12.7 ppg along with 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Siobhan Beslow rounds out the top three scorers with 7.8 ppg. She leads the team with 6.3 boards per game and ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with 1.5 blocked shots per game. Jasmine Alston, though averaging 6.8 points, is dangerous to opponents as she leads the A-10 by far in steals with 3.8 thefts per game. She is also ranked sixth in the A-10 with 4.0 assists per game.

The Explorers are averaging an even 60.0 points, and are limiting opponents to 59.8. In the four wins, that statistic improves to 64.8 ppg for the Explorers to 56.8 for opponents. The Explorers are also shooting 41.1 percent in the four wins, compared to 38.0 percent overall.

The squad is also tied with preseason favorite Dayton with 6.2 blocked shots per game as a team.

Scouting the Colonials
Robert Morris is finally playing at home for the first time this season after spending its first five games on the road. The Colonials are 2-3 although they had tough trips to Iowa, Illinois and Xavier mixed in there. They topped UMBC and Coppin State prior to Thanksgiving for their two wins.

The preseason NEC favorite is looking for another strong season after going 21-12 overall, 14-4 in the Northeast Conference, winning the NEC tournament title and earning the automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament. The Colonials blasted past LIU Brooklyn, Bryant and Saint Francis (Pa.) in the conference tournament to earn a date with Notre Dame in the NCAA first round last season.

The Colonials return four starters from last year's squad, but look to make up for the loss of two-time NEC Player of the Year Artemis Spanou. Spanou was a 2,000 point scorer and graduated as the all-time leading rebounder in Northeast Conference history.

This year's edition of the Colonials loves the three-point shot, as they are shooting 41.2 percent from long range as a team. That includes three players shooting better than 43 percent from beyond the arc, led by Megan Smith's blistering 58.8 percent (10-for-17). Anna Stamolamprou has gone 14-for-40 (46.7%) and Ashley Ravelli has shot 13-for-30 (43.3 percent) from downtown.

Stamolamprou is leading the Colonials with 19.0 ppg, which ranks third in the Northeast Conference. In addition to 46.7 percent from long range, she hits 50.7 percent of her field goal attempts overall. She also leads the team with 6.6 rebounds and is second on the team with 2.6 assists per outing.

Ravelli is second in the team with 11.0 ppg, and chips in 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Smith rounds out the top three scorers with 9.8 ppg while contributing 4.8 boards. Randi Jackson dishes out a team-best 3.0 assists.

The Colonials have averaged 67.8 points per game through their first five, and their opponents are also averaging 67.8. As a team, they have made 39.8 percent of their field goal attempts while opponents have gone 40.1 percent. They also own a +4.0 rebounding margin (42.4 rpg to 38.4 rpg).

Next Up
The Explorers return home on Saturday to host William & Mary before a weeklong break for finals. The Explorers and Tribe tip off at 1pm on Saturday.