Women's Basketball | December 29, 2023
FAIRFAX, Va. – Explorer women's basketball will begin the 2023-24 Atlantic 10 Conference slate with a trip down to Virginia against the George Mason Patriots. The Patriots sit at 9-2 this season and ended the La Salle season last year in the second round of the conference playoffs.
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SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:
- La Salle enters conference play with a 3-8 overall record, currently on a six-game losing streak. Their last game came against the Villanova Wildcats and although the result did not favor the Explorers, the team fought every step of the way against a high-powered Wildcat offense.
- Molly Masciantonio made history against the Big 5 foe the team's last time out. The graduate student became the 27th person in La Salle women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark in her collegiate career. She finished the game at 1,001 points bringing her La Salle total to 641 points. She totaled 360 points during her time at Holy Family University.
- Masciantonio is hitting her strive on the offensive end of the ball, riding a three-game streak of scoring at least 12 points, 15 points coming against Villanova.
- Junior Gabby Turco performed strong against Villanova the team's last time out. She finished with 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, second on the team in scoring in that game.
- Junior Emilee Tahata returned to action after her short stint out of play due to injury. In her first game back since the game at Rider she played eight minutes and collected one rebound.
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS:
- Mason enters tomorrow coming off a win over Towson University a week ago 83-76. This season at EagleBank Arena the Patriots have yet to lose.
- Sania Smith returns to Mason after a strong season last year, especially against La Salle in the playoffs. She tallied 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in the contest. Smith now is the leading points-getter for Mason this season averaging 13.8 points per game this season.
- Returning players could be a large part of Saturday's game between the two teams. Mason got back nine of the players from last season's roster, compared to the five La Salle returned.
- Perhaps one of the biggest wins thus far for the Patriots this season came against the ACC's Pitt Panthers in Fairfax, Va. Mason came out on top with a 60-52 win where Smith led the team with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
- The game can be seen using the ESPN+ link attached starting at 6 p.m.
- Follow along using the Live Stats link, as well.
