Women's Basketball | November 11, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball team tips off its 2016-17 campaign on Friday night when they host the Lafayette Leopards.  Tipoff from Tom Gola Arena is set for 6 pm.
 
Lafayette Leopards (0-0) at La Salle Explorers (0-0)
Friday, November 11 | 6 PM | Tom Gola Arena
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All-Time Series
La Salle is 8-2 all-time against Lafayette in a series that began in 1978. This will be just the second meeting between the teams since Jeff Williams took over the Explorers in 2010.
 
Scouting the Explorers
-La Salle enters the season with all five starters and nine total letterwinners returning from 2015-16, including A-10 leading scorer Amy Griffin (17.7 points per game last year).
 
-Senior Jasmine Alston returns after finishing 11th in the country in assists per game (6.4) and leading the Atlantic 10 in steals (71) and steals per game (2.4) in 2015-16.
 
-Micahya Owens became the 24th Explorer to score 1,000 career points last season and finished the year in 14th on the all-time scoring list at La Salle (1,241 pts). The senior averaged 13.4 points per game last season. 
 
-Junior Ashanti Freeland (19 starts) and senior Deja Bullock (18 starts) complete the starting five from last season.Freeland led the team with 33 blocks and averaged 4.1 points and 4.8 rebounds while Bullock tallied 2.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest
 
-Other returners with starting experience include Adreana Miller and Lisa Mintzer. Miller appeared in all 30 games as a true freshman (11 starts), and finished third on the team with 9.7 points per game and ninth in the A-10 in threepoint field goals made per game (1.7). Meanwhile, Mintzer appeared in 14 games (11 starts) while battling injuries but managed 3.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
 
-La Salle welcomes two newcomers in Shaquana Edwards and Sofilia Ngwafang. Edwards was the Gatorade State Girls Basketball Player of the Year in Connecticut last season while Ngwafang helped Paint Branch High School (Burtonsville, Md.) to a pair of Regional Championships and three straight Division Championships.
 
Scouting the Leopards
-Lafayette finished 9th (6-23) in the Patriot League in 2015-16, the first season under Hall of Fame coach Theresa Grentz.
 
-The Leopards will look to replace the scoring of Jamie O'Hare, who graduated with 1,209 points, the 11th most in program history. She was the lone Leopard to average double-digit scoring last year with 14.6 points per game.
 
-Lafayette's returning leading scorer is Maia Hood, who averaged 9.6 points and five rebounds per contest last season after missing the entire 2014-15 season.
 
-Lafayette led the Patriot League in offensive rebounds last season, and finished in the middle of the pack in total rebounds and blocked shots in 2015-16. Senior Ashley Lutz reeled in a team-best 7.7 boards per game last year, while fellow senior Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby corralled 5.2 per game.
 
-Sophomore Angela Ribarich saw time in all 29 games in her first season at Lafayette, and paced the team with 34 blocks.
 
Next Up
The Explorers visit Big 5 rival Temple at McGonigle Hall for the Owls home opener on Monday night at 5 pm.