Women's Basketball | January 7, 2021
PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle women's basketball team (3-5, 0-2 A-10) are scheduled for a twin bill this weekend against Saint Joseph's (2-0, 0-0 A-10). The Explorers will head to Hawk Hill on Friday at 2 p.m., while the Hawks will visit Tom Gola Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. Friday's game will stream on ESPN+ and Sunday's matinee will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:
- La Salle lost a pair of Atlantic 10 games last weekend in close battles with Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
- Against URI, the Blue & Gold were down by as many as 15 points into the third quarter and possessed the ball with a chance to tie with under 10 seconds remaining.
- Versus UMass, the Explorers kept the game close until early in the fourth period when the Minutewomen pulled ahead by double figures.
- Sophomore Claire Jacobs is fresh off of a Big 5 Player of the Week award for her performances last week. On the season, the Perth, Australia native is pacing the squad with 15.0 ppg on 39.3% shooting. She also sits atop the team in steals (2.1 spg) and second in rebounds (4.1 rpg). Jacobs notched her 500th career point against Coppin State to become the fastest player in program to accomplish that feat (35 games), topping Micahya Owen's 42 games.
- Junior Molly Masciantonio is second in scoring with 9.8 ppg on 36.8% from the floor. She's scored at least seven points in every game this season after transferring from DII Holy Family.
- Junior Kayla Spruill sits third in scoring (8.5 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.3 rpg) but has missed the past two games.
- Sophomore Jordon Lewis rounds out the top four scorers with 7.6 ppg and is shooting 41.3% from the field.
- Senior Kate Hill boasts 4.25 assists per game with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.83. She adds 5.6 ppg to her stat line.
- In total, 78.7% of La Salle's scoring this season is coming from student-athletes with two years or less of DI experience, accounting for 421 of the Explorers' 535 points.
- La Salle leads the A-10 in free throw percentage (78.6%) and three-point field goal defense (27.0%), while ranking second in three-point field goals attempted (226), three-point field goals made (69), and three-point field goals per game (8.6).
SCOUTING THE HAWKS:
- Saint Joseph's is 2-0 on the season and hasn't played a game since it defeated Monmouth on December 15. Since then, SJU has had four games postponed.
- The Hawks have four scorers averaging near double digits this season, led by Alayna Gribble (16.0 ppg) and Alexis Santarelli (13.0 ppg). Katie Jekot and Gabby Smalls are each chipping in 9.5 ppg apiece.
- Smalls also leads the team with 8.5 rebounds per outing.
- Through two games, SJU is averaging 76.0 ppg and allowing just 58.0 ppg. The squad is shooting 46.0% from the floor, 43.6% from deep, and 73.1% from the line.
SERIES HISTORY:
- Saint Joseph's leads the all-time series 50-12, however the Explorers have claimed the last two meetings with a season sweep last year.
- The sweep was the first over the Hawks in program history, which included La Salle's first win inside Hagan Arena since 1998.
