Women's Basketball | January 7, 2023

KINGSTON, R.I. – The La Salle women's basketball team hits the road for the first time in 2023 to take on Rhode Island in a nationally televised matchup on Sunday, Jan. 8. The game will tip off at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• The Explorers look to land their first Atlantic 10 victory following its final non- conference game to kick off 2023. The Explorers are now 1-0 in the month of January after defeating the Hawks in their largest margin of victory so far this season, 47 points.
• La Salle pulled down 60 boards in the game and recorded a rebound margin of 23, the highest numbers for the Explorers at the boards this season. The team's 60 rebounds stood just one shy of tying the single-game program record set by head coach Mountain MacGillivray's 2018-19 team at home against Howard on Nov. 6, 2018.
• The Blue & Gold are now 8-0 this season when leading at halftime and have yet to concede a victory when holding the advantage after 20 minutes.
• The Explorers offense currently ranks sixth in the league averaging 68.1 points per game across 16 contests so far this season. La Salle continues to be proficient in its assist to turnover ratio ranking seventh in the A-10 at 0.78. The Blue & Gold are averaging 9.18 steals per game to rank third in the conference. Charity Shears leads the effort for La Salle averaging 1.3 steals per game, ranking 19th in the conference.
• Claire Jacobs led the Explorers against Hartford with a team-high 11 points off a 5-of-11 performance from the field and a 3-of-4 effort from the foul line. The senior has now recorded 11 games in double-digits including seven straight. She ranks second in the league in free throw percentage shooting 87.2% (34- of-39) from the charity stripe this season.
• Julie Jekot had a career-night against the Hawks pulling down a team-high 10 boards. The mark set a new career-record for the sophomore and makes her just the third Explorer to reach double-digit rebounding this season.
• Kayla Spruill had a quiet game recording just eight points on a 4-of-6 effort from the field. The senior continues to lead the offense averaging a team-high 13.0 points per game. She currently lands second on the A-10's list of top 3- point field goal shooters with a 44.4% from beyond the arc this season.
• Both Spruill and Jacobs hit the 1,000-point mark last season making them 25th and 26th Explorers in program history to do it. Jacobs currently holds 1,311 career points to hold the 13th spot on the all-time list while Spruill's 1,456 puts her at ninth.

 
SCOUTING THE RAMS:

• Rhode Island currently stands 2-0 in Atlantic 10 play defeating first Duquesne followed by Massachusetts. This marks the second-straight year Rhody is 2-0 in the league.
• The Rams enter the game at 7-0 on their home court this season having yet to concede a victory at the Ryan Center. The Rams are 36-8 at the Ryan Center under head coach Tammi Reiss.
• It rained threes the team's last time out against Massachusetts. The Rams scored 24 points in the final frame to defeat the Minutewomen 75-68. Rhody shot 14-of-30 from beyond the arc.
• Sophie Phillips led the 3-point effort shooting 5-of-7 from the long range.
• Madison Hattix-Covington added 17 points on a 4-of-8 shooting effort from the three alongside Sayawni Lassiter who went 3-of-17 from deep and contributed 13 points.

SERIES HISTORY:

• This will be the 40th matchup in series history between the Rams and the Explorers.
• La Salle leads the overall series 29-10, however has lost the last three-straight contests to Rhode Island.
• The Explorers hold a 12-4 advantage when visiting Kingston, Rhode Island last defeating the Rams on their home court in a 12-point victory on Feb. 22, 2020.

La Salle's strong 3-point shooting (14-of-39) in the last meetup between the teams led to a tight game led by Kayla Spruill with a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the arc and a team-high 17 points.