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 No. 7 La Salle (14-14, 9-7) vs. No. 10 Saint Louis (12-17, 7-9) 2013-14 Schedule Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Va. November March 6, 2014 5:00 PM Fri. 8 TEMPLE5 L, 60-47 Atlantic 10 Championship First Round Sun. 17 @ Rutgers L, 59-57 Sun. 24 @ Manhattan W, 72-62 Mon. 25 @ Fairfi eld L, 64-59 Quick Hits... Sat. 30 CENTRAL CONN. W, 71-60 • The Explorers closed out the regular season with back-to-back wins over Duquesne December and St. Bonaventure to fi nish with a 9-7 league record. Mon. 2 PENN5 L, 64-54 • The nine A-10 wins were the most since the 1996-97 squad went 12-4. Thu. 5 @ William & Mary W, 73-59 5 • This season also marked the fi rst over-.500 league record since 1996-97. Sun. 15 VILLANOVA L, 83-47 Fri. 20 vs. FIU# L, 84-58 • Alicia Cropper (14.4 ppg; 16.2 ppg A-10) was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Sat. 21 vs. Tenn. St.# W, 66-58 Second Team; Micahya Owens (13.4 ppg; 13.6 ppg A-10) earned All-Rookie status. Sun. 29 @ Dartmouth% W, 54-43 • The Explorers concluded the regular season as the A-10’s best defense, topping the Mon. 30 vs. Binghamton% L, 57-56 league in scoring defense (56.8 ppg), fi eld goal percent defense (37.0%) and three- point fi eld goal percent defense (19.0%). January • The Explorers limited the Bonnies and Dukes to 3-25 combined from long range, and Thu. 2 @ Rhode Island* W, 50-44 (OT) held opponents to 15.6% from long range since Feb. 1. That includes holding Sat. 4 @ George Mason* W, 65-50 Fordham to 0-for-13 from three. Wed. 8 VCU* W, 63-58 • Jasmine Alston earned the A-10’s fi nal Rookie of the Week honor, and is also the Sat. 11 MASSACHUSETTS* W, 78-41 Wed. 15 @ St. Bonaventure* L, 58-35 reigning Big 5 Player of the Week. She averaged 13.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 4.0 apg in the Sun. 19 SAINT JOSEPH’S*^5 L, 64-52 fi nal two games of the season while tying her career high w/16 at Duquesne. Sat. 25 @ G. Washington* W, 77-68 • Alston concluded the regular season ranking second in the A-10 with 1.9 steals pg. Wed. 29 RICHMOND* L, 56-39 • The Explorers are 5-4 all-time against the Billikens, winning three of the last four. Saint Louis took a 53-43 decision at Chaifetz on Feb. 1. February • The winner of this matchup faces No. 2 St. Bonaventure on Friday at 5 p.m. Sat. 1 @ Saint Louis* L, 53-43 Wed. 5 GEORGE MASON* W, 66-60 Sat. 8 RHODE ISLAND* W, 50-42 2013-14 Numerical Roster Wed. 12 @ Saint Joseph’s* L, 76-63 Probable Starters (Based on previous game) Sat. 15 @ Fordham* L, 43-42 # Name Yr Ht Hometown/Previous School PPG RPG APG Wed. 19 DAYTON* L, 84-69 02 Siobhan Beslow R-So. 5-11 Norfolk, Va./Westfi eld 4.3 5.7 0.7 Wed. 26 @ Duquesne* W, 68-63 11 Jasmine Alston Fr. 5-8 LI City, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin 6.5 5.6 3.1 March 14 Alicia Cropper R-Jr. 5-8 Brooklyn, N.Y./Providence 14.4 5.4 2.6 Sat. 1 ST. BONAVENTURE* W, 55-49 34 Micahya Owens Fr. 5-11 Willingboro, N.J./Willingboro 13.4 4.8 1.4 Thu. 6 vs. #10 Saint Louis$ 5:00 PM 42 Leeza Burdgess Gr. 6-4 Miami, Fla./Pittsburgh 9.2 7.0 0.5 Off the Bench Atlantic 10 Championship - March 5-9 03 Khristin Lee R-Jr. 5-9 Birmingham, Ala./Alabama 8.8 4.6 2.4 (Hosted by Richmond Coliseum; Richmond, Va.) 05 Arielle Ward So. 5-11 Springfi eld, Mass./E. Longmeadow 0.8 0.5 0.1 # - Gator Holiday Classic (Gainesville, Fla.) % - Blue Sky Classic (Hanover, N.H.) 13 Indigo Dickens Jr. 6-2 Washington, D.C./Wilde Lake 1.8 1.5 0.0 * Atlantic 10 game; 5 - Big 5 game ^ Televised on CBS-SN 22 Deja Bullock Fr. 6-0 Magnolia, N.J./Triton 1.8 2.3 0.3 31 Jess Koci Sr. 5-11 Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan 0.7 1.6 0.1 55 Lisa Mintzer Fr. 6-4 Havertown, Pa./Cardinal O’Hara 2.0 2.4 0.0 Media Information Head Coach: Jeff Williams (Howard ’87, Fourth season) Please direct all questions and Associate Head Coach: Ervin Monier (St. Mary’s (Texas) ’85, Fourth season) interview and credential requests Assistant Coach: Shayla Scott (Pittsburgh ’11, Third season) (24 hours in advance) to: Assistant Coach: Morra Gill (Dillard ’02, Second season) Michelle Serabian Director of WBB Operations: Kate Popovec (Northwestern ’13, First season) [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 Jeff Williams Atlantic 10 All- Rookie. Howard ’87 • 4th Season In the fi rst year of Williams’ tenure, the Explorers went 6-8 in the conference and qualifi ed for the Atlantic 10 Tourna- ment. Individual accomplishments included senior Ashley Gale being named to the Atlantic 10 Second Team and All- Year Overall A-10 Defensive Team, while earning the league's 'Most Improved Player' award, and also earned All-Big 5 First Team honors. 2010-11 10-20 6-8 Jess Koci earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors after being one of the league's top rebounders as a freshman. 2011-12 14-17 7-7 2012-13 8-21 4-10 Williams spent the prior seven seasons at the University of Pittsburgh, including the last four as the Associate Head 2013-14 14-14 9-7 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 confer- TOTAL 46-73 26-33 ence 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 Atlantic 10 Tournament/Seed (1995-2000), Georgia Tech (2001-03) and Pittsburgh (2003-10). He recruited or coached six players who reached the 2010-11 1st Round/#9 WNBA, including Pitt All-American Shavonte Zellous, who was named to the WNBA all-rookie team in 2009. Three of his 2011-12 2nd Round/#8 recruiting classes have been ranked in the top 15 nationally and his teams have reached seven NCAA and three WNIT 2013-14 In progress/#7 Tournaments. Under the tutelage of head coach Agnus Berenato, Williams helped Pittsburgh to unprecedented success during his seven-year tenure. Williams recruited 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.