Women's Basketball | February 1, 2022

PHILALDEPHIA, Pa. – The La Salle women's basketball team returns back to Tom Gola Arena to take on Atlantic 10 and Big 5 foe Saint Joseph's for the second showdown between the two teams this season on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. The game will stream nationally on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• La Salle (11-8, 4-3 A10) enters the contest following its second-straight road loss of the season at Duquesne on Sunday, Jan. 30. The Explorers never led and tied the contest just once going on as much as an 11-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter, but couldn't hold on falling to the Dukes 67-48.
• The Explorers shot just 17.9% from the three-point range tying its lowest three-point shooting mark of the season and marking just the fifth time time this season that La Salle's opponent has out-shot it from the long range. The Explorers remain nationally ranked at 30th for their 3-point field goal per game averaging 8.3, good for second in Atlantic 10.
• Gabby Crawford was the lone Explorer to reach double-figures in the contest earning a career-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting (.818). She is the first Explorer to shoot at least 75% from the field since the 2017-18 season. The game marked her sixth in double-digits and her first scoring 20+ points. The performance earned her honorable mentions from the Big 5 and Atlantic 10.
• Kayla Spruill leads the overall offensive effort for La Salle this season averaging 14.8 points over 19 games. She recorded just her sixth single-digit scoring game of the season against Duquesne. The senior also serves as the squad's number one threat at the boards averaging 7.8 rebounds per game. 
• La Salle enters the contest having nine players on its 13-person roster competing in all 19 contests this season with five of those players averaging at least 20 minutes per game. 11 members of the roster took the court against Saint Joseph's back on Jan. 17.
• The Explorers continue to lead the conference in free throw percentage shooting 77.1% from the line. The squad is second in the league for turnover margin (2.58).

SCOUTING THE HAWKS:

• The Hawks enter the contest at 6-12 overall on the season and 2-4 in the Atlantic 10. St. Joe's looks to snap its own two-game skid in the rematch against the Explorers.
• Freshman Talya Brugler earned her third Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honor in the last four weeks marking the sixth time in the 12 weeks that the Hawks have claimed the honor and the fifth consecutive.
• St. Joe's is averaging 59.7 points per game while holding its opponents to 62.7 points per game. The Hawks are shooting 40.1% from the field, 32.7% from the long range and 69.7% from the charity stripe this season.
• Graduate student Katie Jekot leads St. Joe's in scoring (10.1), assists (4.6), steals (1.8) and assist to turnover ratio (1.9). Her assists per game are good for third in the league.
• Brugler is second on the team with 9.2 points per game this season and leads the Hawks in rebounding with 4.8. She is shooting 50.8% from the floor, ranking seventh in the A-10.
• Freshman Mackenzie Smith ranks third on the team in scoring (8.3) and joins Brugler as the only other Hawk to appear in all 18 games this season. Smith leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (43.8%).

SERIES HISTORY:

• Atlantic 10 and Big 5 rivals La Salle and St. Joe's show down just over two weeks after coming face-to-face with one another for the first time this season.
• While the contest was close, the Explorers came out on top over-coming a nine-point deficit to defeat the Hawks 69-65 in Hagan arena.
• Spruill recorded a near-perfect afternoon shooting 6-of-7 from the field, 3-of-3 from deep and 4-of-4 from the line.
• The difference-maker came at the charity stripe with the Explorers tying the single-game record shooting 18-of-18 from the line. Crawford led the effort shooting 9-of-9.