Women's Basketball | January 7, 2019

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball team (3-12, 0-1 A-10) heads to Richmond to take on VCU (9-5, 1-0 A-10) Tuesday night from the Siegal Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• La Salle has dropped its last three games, most recently falling to Dayton in the conference opener, 45-84. In the game, sophomore Rayshel Brown paced the team with 12 points.
• At least one Explorer has scored a career high in points in five of the last seven games.
• Over the last 10 games, La Salle has posted a +36 turnover margin, with only three negative outings. Over that span, the team has collected 102 steals - good enough for 10.2 per contest.
• With its success in the turnover department, La Salle ranks fifth in the conference with a +0.8 turnover margin, which coincides with the team's skill at grabbing steals. The Explorers are first in the A-10 in both steals (143) and steals per game (9.5). The 143 steals has La Salle ranked 47th nationally.
• The Explorers' game against VCU in the final of six consecutive games away from Tom Gola Arena. Over the stretch, La Salle played four road and two neutral site games.
• Sophomore Michelle Nicholls is the team's active leading scorer with 7.9 points per game. Junior Shalina Miller is next with 7.1 ppg, adding a team high 6.1 boards per contest.

SCOUTING THE RAMS:

• VCU enters Tuesday's game with a 9-5 overall record and are 1-0 in the A-10 after taking down Saint Joseph's over the weekend, 59-40.
• The Rams are built on defense, ranking second in the nation in field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot just 30.1% from the floor. VCU also ranks fourth nationally in both scoring defense (51.6 ppg) and three-point field goal defense (22.2%).
• On the offensive end, the Rams sit atop the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 42.4% from the field.
• Scoring 60.1 points per contest, VCU has three players averaging 7.0 points or more a game - Tera Reed (13.3), Taya Robinson (10.3), and Sydnei Archie (7.0).

THE SERIES:

• The Explorers and Rams have only faced off since VCU joined the Atlantic 10 in the 2012-13 season. Since joining the conference, the two have went head to head six times with a split 3-3 record.
• La Salle won the bout last season, 62-57, at Tom Gola Arena, while its last win in Richmond came in 2015.