Women's Basketball | November 29, 2020

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball team is set to open the 2020-21 campaign on Monday as the Towson Tigers visit Tom Gola Arena for a 4 p.m. tipoff. The opener will air nationally on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:
- La Salle welcomes back its top five leading scorers from a season ago, after the Explorers doubled both their overall and conference win totals.
- Sophomore Claire Jacobs was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team after averaging a team high 13.7 points per game last year.
- She's joined by junior Kayla Spruill as the only double-digit scorers for the Explorers. Spruill doubled both her points (11.0) and rebounds (6.1) per game from freshman to sophomore year to earn Big 5 Most Improved Player.
- Senior Kate Hill returns to La Salle's lineup after finishing fifth in the nation in assist to turnover ratio (2.95) and second in the league in assists (127) and assists per game (4.4).
- The Explorers welcome in five freshmen to the mix - Morgan Adams, Jaye Haynes, Michelle Kozicki, Jete Nulle, and Kayla Richardson. Junior Molly Masciantonio will also be available for the Explorers after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
- Head coach Mountain MacGillivray is set to start his third year at the helm of the program.
- La Salle led the Atlantic 10 last season in defensive field-goal percentage (36.4%), which was good enough for 34^th nationally. The Explorers also recorded the most three-point field goals per game (7.1) in the league.
- The Blue & Gold were picked to finish 10^th in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:
- Towson comes into Monday's game 1-0 on the season under head coach Diane Richardson.
- The Tigers defeated ECU in their season opener last Wednesday, 89-81.
- A trio of players scored in double figures against the Pirates, led by returning scorer and CAA Preseason Player of the Year Kionna Jeter with 27 points. Jeter also collected a team high 12 rebounds to complete the double-double.
- Aleah Nelson and Shavonne Smith each contributed 13 points.
 
SERIES HISTORY:
- La Salle leads the all-time series 4-2, including four of the last five meetings.
- Towson claimed the most recent matchup back in 2018, 92-68.
- The Explorers are 2-1 both at home and on the road.
- Each team is returning two players from the last game (King/Spruill and Jeter/Borgosz).
 
OH WHAT A YEAR!
- The 2020-21 season will be unlike any other due to the COVID-19 pandemic. La Salle has already had four schedule changes with the postponement of the Howard game, cancellation of the Coppin State game, and the additions of both the Towson/Monmouth games. Due to the pandemic, this is the latest the Explorers have started a season since 1994-95 (Dec. 1).
 
EXPLORERS IN SEASON OPENERS
- All-time, La Salle is 35-13 in season openers. The Explorers started on a 28-2 run through their first 30 seasons. Since 2010, the program posts just a 3-6 record in season openers after last season's victory over Howard. Head coach Mountain MacGillivray is 1-1 entering year three.
 
ROOKIE SEASON TO REMEMBER
- Sophomore Claire Jacobs certainly made her presence felt during her rookie campaign. Jacobs set a new freshman single game record with 29 points on two different occasions, passing Suzi McCaffrey's 28 points over Towson State in 1983, and the freshman season record with 412 points, besting Micahya Owens' 411 in 2013-14. That total makes her one of seven freshmen in program history to score 300 points and one of two at 400+.
- The Perth, Australia native led the Explorers last season in scoring and registered 10+ points in 21 games including her final 11. Claire has also dropped 15+ in 14 games and 20+ in five. She finished second among all rookies in the Atlantic 10 with 13.7 ppg and eighth overall. In A-10 play only, Jacobs ended eighth overall and second among rookies with 15.4. Her rookie performance landed her on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team and Second Team All-Big 5.
 
SMOOTH SO STRONG
- Junior Kayla Spruill aka, Big Smooth, was arguably the most consistent player for the Explorers last season. The Baltimore, Md. native averaged 11.0 ppg last season and registered 10+ points in 18 games and six of 15+. She nearly doubled her points and rebounds per game from her rookie season, earning her the Big 5 Most Improved Player award. The Philadelphia Inquirer charts her career on page 32.
 
DISHIN' OUT DIMES
- Senior Kate Hill established herself as one of the best ball handlers in the nation. Hill led the Atlantic 10 in assist to turnover ratio at 2.95 and ranked fifth in the country. She was second in the league in assists (127) and assists per game (4.4).
 
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
- Last season, La Salle's then freshmen and sophomores accounted for 67.6% of the Explorers' points. Of the 67.8%, 61.9% come from the team's top four scorers - then freshman Claire Jacobs, sophomore Kayla Spruill, freshman Jordon Lewis, and freshman Amy Jacobs.
- Collectively, the Explorers enter the 2020-21 season with 13 of 15 student-athletes with two years or less of DI experience and team average age of 19.3 years. Both are believed to be among the most inexperienced/youngest teams in the nation.
 
MAGIC NUMBERS: 70 & 67
- Under head coach Mountain MacGillivray, La Salle is a perfect 8-0 when scoring 70 or more points in a game, including 5-0 last season. When hitting 67 points, the Explorers are 11-5 under MacGillivray and 8-3 last season.
 
2019-20 HISTORY LESSON
- Head coach Mountain MacGillivray's second season was one for the record books.
- La Salle started 6-1 on the campaign for its best start since the 2006-07 season when it started 7-0.
- For the first time in program history, the Explorers swept Saint Joseph's in the regular season. The victory inside Hagan Arena on 2/15/10 was the first inside that building for La Salle since 1988.
- The Blue & Gold's come-from-behind win over Penn St. on 11/17/19 was the first ever victory over the Lady Lions in program history and also signified the first over a Power 5 team since Nov. 29, 2015 when the Explorers topped Miami, 71-68, and the first over a Big Ten team since Dec. 22, 1988 when the Blue & Gold downed Northwestern, 69-67.
 
SANDERS JOINS THE CREW
- After spending the 2019-20 season at Penn State as the women's basketball video coordinator and interim assistant coach, Ali Sanders joins the Explorers as an assistant coach.