Women's Basketball | December 6, 2019

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball team (6-3) look to bounce back after losing back-to-back games for the first time this season as the Explorers head to Rider (3-2) Saturday afternoon. Tip is slated for 2 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN3.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• For the first time this season, the Explorers dropped back-to-back games will the loss to Penn on Wednesday, 65-49. Seniors Shalina Miller and Sofilia Ngwafang made their presence felt as the duo combined for 19 points, 21 rebounds, and four blocks. Miller notched her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 boards. She added three assists, three steals, and two blocks to her stat line.
• After deflecting two shots against Penn, senior Shalina Miller overtook Suzi McCaffrey '86 for third all-time with 137 career blocks. Miller is 10 behind Linda French '87 and 14 behind Amy Griffin '18. Miller ranks ninth in the nation in blocks with 24 and 13th in blocks per game at 2.7.
• Freshmen and sophomores are accounting for 62.1% of the Explorers' points. Of the 62.1%, 53.8% come from the team's top four scorers - freshman Claire Jacobs, sophomore Kayla Spruill, freshman Jordon Lewis, and freshman Amy Jacobs.
• Rookie Claire Jacobs leads La Salle with 10.4 ppg on 36.6% from the floor and 40.5% from long range. Jacobs is half a point more a game than sophomore Kayla Spruill at 9.9 ppg as the next highest scorer. Spruill adds 5.1 rpg, which is third best on the team.
• Senior Shalina Miller tops the squad in rebounding at 8.2 rpg. Classmate Sofilia Ngwafang is next at 5.4 rpg.
• Collectively, the Blue & Gold are scoring 65.9 ppg and hold opponents to 61.2 ppg.
• La Salle sits among the nation's best in three pointers and blocks. The team has made 82 long balls this season which ranks fourth in the country, while the Explorers' 52 deflections ranks sixth.

SCOUTING THE LADY BRONCS:

• Rider enters play without playing a game since Nov. 23.
• The team puts up 68.0 ppg and allows 72.6 ppg.
• Stella Johnson, who was just named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List for the nation's top women's basketball player, is leading the country with 30.8 ppg. Johnson is hitting 42.6% of her shots from the floor, including 37.9% from beyond the arc.
• Amari Johnson and Amanda Mobley are Rider's other top scorers at 10.8 ppg and 9.8 ppg, respectively. Johnson is close to averaging a double-double with 9.0 rpg.

THE SERIES:

• La Salle holds a 9-2 advantage over Rider in a series dating back to 1981.
• The Explorers claimed the first nine matchups before the Lady Broncs won the last two.
• The Blue & Gold are 4-1 in the Garden State.