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La Salle WBB releases 2021-22 non-conference schedule

08/17/2021, 10:45am EDT
By Jason Guarente

Jason Guarente (@JasonGuarente)
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La Salle’s women’s basketball team has unveiled the non-conference schedule for what it hopes will be a coming-of-age season.


La Salle coach Mountain MacGillivaray (above) and his Explorers released their non-conference schedule on Monday. (Photo courtesy: Sideline Photos)

The Explorers, who return four starters including top scorer Claire Jacobs, will play 13 games outside of the Atlantic 10. Seven of those are at Tom Gola arena.

Four of La Salle’s first five games are at home, including hosting Coppin State in the opener on Nov. 9 and Rider four days later for homecoming.

The first road game is nearby against city rival Drexel on Nov. 17, followed by back-to-back home games against Niagara on Nov. 20 and Lafayette on Nov. 23.

La Salle has a date with Kentucky on Nov. 28 to start a three-game road stretch. That continues with Big Five opponent Penn and Saint Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 1 and Dec. 4.

The non-conference schedule fills out the rest of December. There are home dates with Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 8, Sacred Heart on Dec. 18, Villanova on Dec. 21 and a road game against St. John’s on Dec. 11. The final non-league matchup is at Temple on Dec. 29.

Jacobs, a 6-0 junior guard from Perth, Australia, averaged 16.3 points and 4.5 rebounds last season, when the Explorers were built around underclassmen. Jacobs is expected to fill an even bigger role this season.

“We knew she could play,” La Salle coach, Mountain MacGillivray, told CoBL in June. “We knew she could put the ball in the basket, and she didn’t disappoint in that regard at all from her freshman year. But her game has also grown by leaps and bounds and she really came into her own, playing much more defense and rebounding last year and started to move the ball and distribute a little bit more, and we expect another big jump from her this year.”

Kayla Spruill, a 6-0 senior wing, averaged 15 points and a team-high 6.1 rebounds and is joined by Molly Masciantonio and Amy Jacobs, Claire’s sister, as top returning players. Masciantonio, a senior, went to Archbishop Carroll.

La Salle finished 12-14 overall and 7-10 in the Atlantic 10 last season, with seven of those losses by six points or fewer. The Explorers are hoping to post their second winning season since 2006-07 after they went 17-13 five years ago.

“We had the youngest team in the country last year,” MacGillivray said. “ So now we’re older, those kids are returning, we’ve got some fresh faces who can really play and compete, and we’re looking to take the next step forward.”

La Salle WBB 2021-22 Non-Conference Schedule
(All game times TBD unless otherwise noted)
Tues., Nov. 9 vs. Coppin State (5 PM)
Saturday, Nov. 13 vs. Rider (12 PM)
Weds., Nov. 17 @
Drexel
Sat., Nov. 20 vs. Niagara (1 PM)
Tues., Nov. 23 vs. Lafayette (6 PM)
Sun., Nov. 28 @
Kentucky

Weds., Dec. 1 @ Penn
Sat., Dec. 4 @ St. Francis (Pa.)
Tues., Dec. 8 vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore (6 PM)
Sat., Dec. 11 @
St. John's
Sat., Dec. 18 vs
. Sacred Heart (2 PM)
Tues., Dec. 21 vs.
Villanova
Weds., Dec. 29 vs. Temple

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