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Post by hykos1045 on Jan 18, 2021 1:25:49 GMT -5
Sunday 1/17 La Salle 67 - Duquesne 63
* first win over the duques in 7 years (breaks an 0-6 run). Achievement unlocked.
Leading scorer was returnee from sidelines, Kayla Spruill who is still our emerging MVP candidate for the conference in a few years (1? Or 2?). Mountain: Way to make it keep going with these wins, man. Thus another winning streak for the Explorers! One in a row, three out of four. Onward and upward.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Jan 18, 2021 17:49:46 GMT -5
Sunday 1/17 La Salle 67 - Duquesne 63 * first win over the duques in 7 years (breaks an 0-6 run). Achievement unlocked. Leading scorer was returnee from sidelines, Kayla Spruill who is still our emerging MVP candidate for the conference in a few years (1? Or 2?). Mountain: Way to make it keep going with these wins, man. Thus another winning streak for the Explorers! One in a row, three out of four. Onward and upward. Great to see them breaking some of these long losing streaks against A10 foes.
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Post by explorer88 on Jan 18, 2021 17:51:29 GMT -5
They have some young talent. The program really needs an effective big to take the next step.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Jan 31, 2021 17:00:01 GMT -5
Kudos to Mountain and the team for snapping another in a string of long droughts
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Post by explorer88 on Jan 31, 2021 17:26:47 GMT -5
Women’s team is ahead of the men’s team it looks like as far as the improvements made. Both programs have had some bad losses but the women’s team looks more consistent with their play now.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Feb 4, 2021 20:11:54 GMT -5
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Feb 12, 2021 18:48:38 GMT -5
Spruill and Claire Jacobs combined for 44 of the teams 55 points as they take down Davidson on the road. The women are now 10-10 on the season and 6-7 in the A10. I'm posting the boxscore for one reason. Not sure I've ever seen a 15-1 disparity in steals. (In favor of us) goexplorers.com/documents/2021/2/12/La_Salle_55_Davidson_46.pdf
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Post by hykos1045 on Feb 12, 2021 18:49:25 GMT -5
Today's game against Davidson had all the makings of another heartbreak/upset, like experienced many times last season. But La Salle protected the ball, clamped down on defense, closed on a 10-1 run and kept the opponents at bay. The Wildcats were forced into 17 turnovers, and shot just 31 percent. Some impressive rebounding by the home squad was nullified by poor shooting both inside and outside. A credit to the La Salle defense for throwing Davidson off balance with some forced bad shots and rushed offense that could not settle into a comfortable pace. This broke a 4 game program losing streak against the Cats, including last year's A10 tournament. By avenging this loss, the Explorers again showed they are ready to be a top half A10 team and hopefully make some further progress over last year's middle of the pack finish.
The play-by-play announcer remarked that La Salle is second in the league in 3 point shooting, 1st in the league in attempts, and also tops in the league in getting to the line and making free throws. No doubt this well rounded team has many ways to win games and will be a tough out in March. I just hope the match-ups are favorable and we don't fall into a seed which is forced to play a true road game against VCU, or a de facto loss against the world beating Dayton Flyers (9-0 conf, 10-1 overall). Thus, it will be extra crucial to avoid the 8/9 line that will be matched up against the unbeatable #1 Flyers in the second round, and it will also require some luck to avoid the hosts, VCU Rams in any round! Aside from Dayton and VCU, La Salle will be a possible favorite or pick-em in the first and second rounds, depending on everyone staying healthy and avoiding bad match-ups like VCU on their home floor, for example. With all the rising star talent in the sophomore class as a whole, and two excellent point guards in King and Hill, it is the first time in many years that I have felt this strong about the prospects for advancing deep in the A10s. The team is also as confident as ever at closing out games, and that helps!
All that optimism aside, La Salle now enters perhaps its toughest stretch of the season, with Fordham, VCU and Richmond on deck. These upcoming opponents are now a combined 22-6 against the A10 conference (78.5%).
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Post by hykos1045 on Feb 18, 2021 18:36:44 GMT -5
The Explorers are hanging tough with a very good VCU squad on the road and have built a narrow 15-13 lead despite 1/7 from deep in the first quarter.
Is anyone really liking the pumped in crowd noise for games that are not even televised? This particular sound board operator gives the home team the courtesy of shutting down the noise for free throws. I am not sure if they will return the favor, when and if the refs send us to the line. Let me just say that I'm 100% against the fake noise under any circumstances, but what do I know? I wonder what the players and coaches think about it.
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Post by hykos1045 on Feb 18, 2021 19:29:43 GMT -5
I just went down a wikipedia hole, and learned that the Wichita State fight song ripped off VCU band's version of "You Don't Want to Go to War", right after VCU ejected them from the NCAA tourney back in 2012. I found this fascinating!
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Post by hykos1045 on Feb 18, 2021 22:59:47 GMT -5
VCU escapes a jam, 63-62 in OT. I felt like La Salle was outnumbered on the court, 5 on 8 at times. The fourth foul on Spruill, you can see on the replay, she blocked the ball but the commentator said she got a piece of the shooter's hand? I didn't see the contact. It was a very soft foul and we did not get the benefit of any such 50/50 calls on the other end of the floor. I also thought we played extremely confidently until the end, forcing VCU into so many turnovers and bad shots. My heart breaks for Mountain and the team, who did everything right to deserve this win. La Salle seemed about ready to grab momentum away for good in the game, then VCU made a step back jumper from almost NBA range to reclaim its lead, with 3 minutes left to go in regulation which ultimately allowed them to force OT. Nevertheless, it took everything VCU had in the arsenal to narrowly escape with the win.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Feb 28, 2021 20:47:54 GMT -5
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Post by jellybean on Mar 2, 2021 12:01:30 GMT -5
Sorry a little late with my thoughs.
Good comeback win on Sunday vs St. Bonnies. Lost Friday night to Duquesne ( we split with them this season) primarily due to poor defensive effort. Sunday the defense was more intense. Held Bonnie's to 2-23 (8%) from three while hitting 13-31 (41%) on our end.
Claire Jacobs and Spruill had great offensive games. Combined for 11-13 from field. 7-7 from 3. 8-8 from the line. 37 points.
Sixers Tobias Harris has a sister (Tori) who is very nice player. She had 19 pts and 12 boards.
Open with Duquesne in A10's. Rubber match. I expect a real tough game. Could go either way but I'll be a homer and say La Salle. Would move on to #1 seed Dayton. Be happy if we kept it in single digits with Dayton prevailing/
Future looks bright. We return 77% of minutes. Looking for a step up. Seeded #8 this year would be awesome to get a little higher like 5-6th.
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