Skip To Main Content

La Salle University Athletics

scoreboard

scoreboard

Women's Basketball Opens A-10 Play at League Newcomer Davidson on Sunday

wbb national anthem
Mike Dao

Women's Basketball | January 3, 2015

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle women's basketball team will face Davidson for the first time in program history on Sunday, as the two schools open Atlantic 10 play at Belk Arena at 2 p.m. The game is the inaugural A-10 contest for the Wildcats, who joined the league this season after 21 years in the Southern Conference.

La Salle Explorers (9-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10) at Davidson Wildcats (4-9, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Sunday, Jan. 4 | 2:00 PM | Belk Arena
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDay

Follow the Explorers on: Twitter | Instagram

Game Notes
La Salle | Davidson

Video Stream
Sunday's contest at Davidson will be streamed on the A-10 Network.

All-Time Series vs. Wildcats
La Salle and Davidson will be meeting for the first time in program history. The Wildcats are an unfamiliar team to most A-10 schools, with the 'Cats just 1-5 against current league members. They have only seen Duquesne, Rhode Island, Richmond and Saint Joseph's in their program history, and will be meeting Dayton, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, VCU, and the Explorers for the first time ever.

Scouting the Explorers
La Salle enters the A-10 portion of the schedule after posting the most number of nonconference wins since 2008-09. The Explorers went 9-4, a better win percentage than that 08-09 squad which was 9-6. The Explorers closed out the nonconference schedule and the 2014 calendar year with a pair of home games, defeating both Fairfield (73-52) and UMBC (65-62). Micahya Owens scored 17 points in each game to lead the squad on the week, and Alicia Cropper averaged 14.5 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds in the two wins. Cropper recorded her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Fairfield.

Owens ranks ninth in the Atlantic 10 and leads the squad with 14.5 points per game on the season, while adding 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per outing. She ranks eighth in the league in three-point field goal percentage, shooting at a 41.9 percent clip from long range.

Cropper qualified for the Atlantic 10 rankings* after the UMBC game and found her way into the top 15 in five statistical categories. She ranks fourth in the A-10 with a 44.9 percent three-point shooting clip thanks to hitting 22 of her 49 triple attempts this season. She is also in the top 15 in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (2.8 apg), free throw percentage (78.1%), and three-point field goals made per game (2.2).
* (Players qualify for the rankings when they have played in 75% or more of the team's contests. Cropper missed three early games due to injury)

Siobhan Beslow rounds out the top three scorers with 7.2 points per game, and leads the squad with 6.2 rebounds per outing.

Jasmine Alston is also ranked in a number of categories, and continues to lead the Atlantic 10 with 2.6 steals per game. She dishes out a team-high 3.2 assists to rank 11th in the league, while chipping in 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds.

The Explorers average 63.5 ppg and yield 63.4 to opponents. They are shooting 38.0 percent from the field, and rank second in the A-10 by hitting 37.0 percent of their three-point attempts. The squad also ranks in the top five with 8.2 steals per game and 4.5 blocks per game.

Scouting the Wildcats
Davidson enters its first season in the Atlantic 10 after 21 years in the Southern Conference. The squad went 16-16 last year and were picked to finish 12th in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches' poll.

The Wildcats are 4-9 overall but have a big win to their name as they knocked off ACC foe Virginia 67-57 in the UVA Holiday Classic last week. They also dropped a contest to Miami (OH). They have faced four BCS schools this season, including the Cavaliers along with USC, #21/24 Rutgers and NC State.

Junior Hannah Early leads the Wildcats with 15.7 ppg, which ranks sixth in the A-10, and pulls down 7.3 rebounds per game. She was a Second Team All-SoCon pick last season.

Rookie Mackenzie Latt has been making a name for herself early, posting 11.3 ppg and leading the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg), assists (2.3 apg) and steals (2.0 spg).

Junior Dakota Dukes rounds out the top three scorers with 8.8 ppg while chipping in 5.2 rpg. Dukes was a First Team All-SoCon pick last year.

As a team, the Wildcats average 61.2 ppg while giving up 72.8 to opponents. They are shooting 39.1 percent overall and 33.5 percent from three.

Next Up
La Salle continues A-10 play when the Explorers host Fordham on Thursday (1/8) at 7 p.m.
 
Print Friendly Version

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
Micahya Owens

#34 Micahya Owens

F
5' 11"
Sophomore

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
Micahya Owens

#34 Micahya Owens

5' 11"
Sophomore
F