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2013-14 La Salle Explorers Women’s Basketball La Salle Athletic Communications Phone: 215-951-1637 Fax: 215-951-1694 Women’s Basketball Contact: Michelle Serabian [email protected] GoExplorers.com Facebook.com/LaSalleAthletics Twitter.com/GoExplorers_com YouTube.com/LaSalleAthletics 2013-14 Schedule La Salle Explorers (0-0) vs. Temple Owls (0-0) Tom Gola Arena Philadelphia, Pa. November 5 7:00 PM Fri. 8 TEMPLE 7:00 PM Sun. 17 @ Rutgers 1:00 PM Sun. 24 @ Manhattan 2:00 PM Mon. 25 @ Fairfi eld 7:00 PM Quick Hits... Sat. 30 CENTRAL CONN. 1:00 PM TBA PENN5 TBA • Head Coach Jeff Williams is excited about the addition of three transfers, who are all eligible to play this season: Leeza Burdgess (Pittsburgh), Alicia Cropper (Providence) December and Khristin Lee (Alabama). The trio of transfers has six years of experience at the BCS Thu. 5 @ William & Mary 7:00 PM Sun. 15 VILLANOVA5 1:00 PM level. Fri. 20 vs. FIU# 4:30 PM • The Explorers have a brand new look to them as Williams welcomes a total of seven Sat. 21 vs. Florida/Tenn St# 4:30/7 PM newcomers. Freshman Micahya Owens, a New Jersey all-state honoree, scored just shy Sun. 29 @ Dartmouth% 7:00 PM of 2,000 points in her career at Willingboro High School. Rookie Deja Bullock was a Mon. 30 vs. Binghamton% 5:00 PM member of Triton Regional (N.J.)’s 1,000 points/1,000 rebounds club. • Williams looks to offset the losses of Brittany Wilson, last year’s Big 5 scoring cham- January pion (18.3 ppg), and Big 5 Second Teamer Shanel Harrison (12.6 ppg/7.0 rpg). Thu. 2 @ Rhode Island* TBA • La Salle topped Temple 71-55 last season at McGonigle Hall behind 29 points from Sat. 4 @ George Mason* 7:00 PM graduated senior Shanel Harrison. Wed. 8 VCU* 7:00 PM Sat. 11 MASSACHUSETTS* 1:00 PM • Temple owns a 22-21 edge in the all-time series. Wed. 15 @ St. Bonaventure* 7:00 PM • Rateska Brown is the Owls’ leading returning scorer (10.8 ppg) along with Tyonna Sun. 19 SAINT JOSEPH’S*^5 5:00 PM Williams (9.4 ppg). Sat. 25 @ G. Washington* 2:00 PM • The Owls’ Williams dished out 161 assists last season and had a 1.3 A-T ratio. Wed. 29 RICHMOND* 7:00 PM • The game will be video streamed live on GoExplorers.com; Paul Hembekides and Sean Egan will have the call on the audio stream. February Sat. 1 @ Saint Louis* TBA Wed. 5 GEORGE MASON* 7:00 PM Sat. 8 RHODE ISLAND* TBA 2013-14 Numerical Roster Wed. 12 @ Saint Joseph’s* 7:00 PM # Name Yr Ht Hometown/Previous School PPG RPG APG Sat. 15 @ Fordham* 2:00 PM 02 Siobhan Beslow R-So. 5-11 Norfolk, Va./Westfi eld - - - Wed. 19 DAYTON* 7:00 PM 03 Khristin Lee R-Jr. 5-9 Birmingham, Ala./Alabama - - - Wed. 26 @ Duquesne* TBA 05 Arielle Ward So. 5-11 Springfi eld, Mass./E. Longmeadow - - - March 11 Jasmine Alston Fr. 5-8 LI City, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin - - - Sat. 1 ST. BONAVENTURE* 1:00 PM 13 Indigo Dickens Jr. 6-2 Washington, D.C./Wilde Lake - - - Wed.-Sun. 14 Alicia Cropper R-Jr. 5-8 Brooklyn, N.Y./Providence - - - 5-9 Atlantic 10 Championship 22 Deja Bullock Fr. 6-0 Magnolia, N.J./Triton - - - 31 Jess Koci Sr. 5-11 Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan - - - Atlantic 10 Championship - March 5-9 (Hosted by Richmond Coliseum; Richmond, Va.) 34 Micahya Owens Fr. 5-11 Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro - - - # - Gator Holiday Classic (Gainesville, Fla.) 42 Leeza Burdgess Gr. 6-4 Miami, Fla./Providence - - - % - Blue Sky Classic (Hanover, N.H.) 55 Lisa Mintzer Fr. 6-4 Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O’Hara - - - * Atlantic 10 game; 5 - Big 5 game ^ Televised on CBS-SN Head Coach: Jeff Williams (Howard ’87, Fourth season) Associate Head Coach: Ervin Monier (St. Mary’s (Texas) ’85, Fourth season) Media Information Assistant Coach: Shayla Scott (Pittsburgh ’11, Third season) Please direct all questions and Assistant Coach: Morra Gill (Dillard ’02, Second season) interview and credential requests Director of WBB Operations: Kate Popovec (Northwestern ’13, First season) (24 hours in advance) to: Michelle Serabian [email protected] 1 2013-14 La Salle Women’s Basketball Head Coach Jeff Williams Howard ’87, Fourth Season Jeff Williams enters his fourth season at the helm of the La Salle women's basketball program in 2013-14. In Williams' third year on 20th and Olney, two players under his watch earned Philadelphia Big 5 honors. Brittany Wil- son was a First Teamer and also the city's scoring champion, averaging 18.3 ppg, and Shanel Harrison earned Second Team honors. He brought the Explorers to back-to-back Atlantic 10 Tournament berths in 2011 and 2012, advancing to the second round in 2012. His 2011-12 squad went .500 in A-10 play, knocking off Xavier for the fi rst time in eight years and then toppling the Musketeers again in the A-10 tournament. The Explorers put together a six-game win streak, the best since 2005-06, and started league play 3-0 for the fi rst time since 1996-97. Under his tutelage, Wilson picked up All-Big 5 First Team and Atlantic 10 Third Team honors and Jada Payne was named Atlantic 10 All- Rookie. In the fi rst year of Williams’ tenure, the Explorers went 6-8 in the conference and qualifi ed for the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Individual accomplishments included senior Ashley Gale being named to the Atlantic 10 Second Team and All-Defensive Team, while earning the league's 'Most Improved Player' award, and also earned All-Big 5 First Team honors. Jess Koci earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors after being one of the league's top rebounders as a freshman. Williams spent the prior seven seasons at the University of Pittsburgh, including the last four as the Associate Head Coach. Williams helped guide the Panthers to postseason appearances in the past fi ve seasons, including three straight NCAA Tournament trips with Sweet Sixteen showings in 2008 and 2009. He was formally introduced at a press conference on Wednesday, March 23, 2010 and became the program's eighth head coach. Williams has nearly 20 years of college coaching experience, including six as a women's basketball coach at Howard (1995-2000), Georgia Tech (2001- 03) and Pittsburgh (2003-10). He recruited or coached six players who reached the WNBA, including Pitt All-American Shavonte Zellous, who was named to the WNBA all-rookie team in 2009. Three of his recruiting classes have been ranked in the top 15 nationally and his teams have reached seven NCAA and three WNIT Tournaments. Under the tutelage of head coach Agnus Berenato, Williams helped Pittsburgh to unprecedented success during his seven-year tenure. Williams re- cruited and signed a pair of players--Zellous and Philadelphia's Marcedes Walker (University City HS)--who would provide the most successful run in the program's history. Two years after a six-win fi rst season, the staff led the Panthers to a then school-record 22 wins and WNIT appearance in 2005-06. In 2006-07, the Panthers broke the school record for wins (24) and advanced to their fi rst NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The success rewarded Pittsburgh with its fi rst national ranking in the Associated Press poll in nearly 20 years. Walker earned All-Region honors for the second straight year in 2007-08, leading Pitt to its fi rst NCAA Sweet Sixteen and tying the school record with 24 wins. The team also defeated a top 10 opponent for the fi rst time in program history and captured four wins over top 15 teams that season. Walker, who Williams worked with directly when he coached the post players, became the second player in program history to accumulate over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. One season later, the Panthers returned to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and won 25 games, marking the fourth straight year the team had tied or broken the school record. Pitt was ranked #14 in the fi nal AP ranking, its highest in program history. Zellous was named an AP All-American and was the school's fi rst WNBA draft pick, going #11 overall to the Detroit Shock. This past season, Pitt reached the WNIT, making it a program-record fi ve straight postseason appearances. Williams fi rst worked with Berenato at Georgia Tech. There he helped lead the Yellow Jackets to their second-ever NCAA trip in 2003 after a WNIT appear- ance in 2002. He coached a pair of future WNBA players at Georgia Tech--Kasha Terry and Sonya Mallory. For two straight seasons, he helped bring in a nationally ranked recruiting class, including two Street & Smith's All-America honorees. Both classes were ranked in the top 15 nationally. He spent the fi ve previous seasons at Howard, where he led the Bison to four league titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances as the associate head coach. His 1997-98 recruiting class was ranked #12 nationally. Williams recruited Andrea Gardner, who led the nation in rebounding in 2000, and coached the school's fi rst two WNBA players - Gardner and Denique Graves, from Philadelphia's University City High School. Williams also has professional coaching experience, coaching the Atlanta Justice of the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL) in 2000-01, leading the team to the league title. A 1987 graduate of Howard with a degree in therapeutic recreation, Williams also was an assistant coach for the men's teams at George Mason (1989-93) and South Carolina State (1987-89).