Women's Basketball | February 18, 2023

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The La Salle women's basketball team is taking its winning-momentum to Missouri to face Saint Louis this Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. central standard time. The game will stream live on ESPN+.
 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS:

• La Salle enters the contest at 16-11 on the season and 7-5 in Atlantic 10 play following back-to-back victories at home in Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center.
• The Explorers most recently topped Fordham in a 61-49 win marking the second-straight win in the series for the Explorers.
• La Salle was led by Kayla Spruill with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting including 4-of-6 from deep. The graduate student was honored before the game for becoming the program's all-time three-point leader and currently has 214 career threes. Spruill currently averages 1.7 three-point field goals per game to rank 13^th in the conference.
• Spruill's double-digit performance marked her second-straight game with 10-plus points and her 15^th total this season. She has reached the 20-point club in four contests with the game against Fordham being her first since her 20-point performance against UMES on Dec. 10.
• Spruill's 10 field goals in the game against the Rams marked the first Explorer to convert 10 buckets from the field since she did it last exactly a year prior against Davidson.
• Spruill spearheads the Explorers scoring efforts alongside senior Claire Jacobs with the duo averaging 12.2 and 12.6 points, respectively. Jacobs currently ranks 16^th in the conference in scoring while Spruill sits in tied for 12^th.   
• Jacobs has also proven to be successful from the line. She has totaled 47 threes this season also averaging 1.7 per game to also tie for 12^th in the league. Her 187 career threes officially moves her to second on the all-time 3-point list.
• Mia Jacobs contributed 10 points in the game against Fordham making her the only other Explorer to end the contest in double digits. She has now recorded back-to-back games in double figures while hitting the mark in 13 total games this season. The freshman has also reached 10-plus points in 10 of the 11 conference contests she has played in this year.
• Jacobs has had proven success from the charity stripe this season sinking 4-of-4 in the last contest marking the 14^th game where she has sunk at least four buckets from the line in a game. Her 82.8% shooting performance from the foul line ranks sixth in the league.
• Amy Jacobs led the battle at the boards in the game with 11 rebounds. She is one of only four Explorers to reach double-digit rebounding this season and is just the second Explorer to do it in more than one contest this season joining sister Mia Jacobs as the only other player with double-digit rebounding in two games. Jacobs is the first player this season with 10 defensive rebounds in a contest.
• Molly Masciatonio continues to be the nations leading point guard with a 4.45 assist to turnover ratio. She has recorded 15 total games with one or zero turnovers.
• The Explorers are comfortable this season when leading at the half going 13-0 this season when holding the advantage after the first 20 minutes of play.
• La Salle's 3-point shooting has heated up in the past couple of games knocking down a season-high 15 threes against Duquesne on Feb. 12. The mark sat just one bucket away from tying the single-game program record of 16 threes set against Saint Louis on Feb. 19, 2022.

SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS:

• Saint Louis enters the contest at 11-17 overall and 7-6 in A-10 play. The Billikens return to action following an 84-74 loss at Richmond on Wednesday night putting a stop to the team's five-game win streak.
• The Billikens have averaged 74.8 points in the last four games and have now scored at least 70 points in four consecutive games for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• Julia Martinez is looking to move up into the top three on the Billiken's all-time leading steals list needing just three more to jump to third.
• Brooke Flowers has been strong on the boards for Saint Louis averaging 11.1 total rebounds and 4.2 offensive boards in the last 10 games. She has also averaged 16.0 points in the last nine contests.
• Peyton Kennedy has averaged 12.3 points in the last six outings and is 39-of-74 (.527) from the field in the last six contests.
• The Billikens currently lead the A-10 in four categories - 5.5 blocks per game (ninth nationally), 14.6 offensive rebounds per game (23rd), 9.6 steals per game (48th) and 13.0 free throws made per game.
• SLU ranks second in the conference in free throw percentage shooting 77.6% from the line this season.
• The three-point shooting has also heated up for the Billikens sinking 23 threes in the last three games, the highest total in a three-game stretch this season.

SERIES HISTORY:

• La Salle trails the all-time series with Saint Louis 8-10. The Billikens hold a 5-2 advantage over the Explorers when playing at home.
• The Explorers hosted Saint Louis last season taking a 73-65 win over the Billikens to snap a three-game skid in the overall series.
• La Salle has yet to defeat Saint Louis when visiting the Billikens since recording a single-point victory, 53-53, on Jan. 7, 2012.
• The Explorers set the single-game program record for three pointers with 16 total.