Fine Tuning Paying Off For La Salle Women's Hoops Team
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After starting the season just 3-9, the La Salle University women's basketball team in now on a roll, winning six in a row as they get ready for a Wednesday afternoon visit to Charlotte.
What helped the Explorers turn things around?
"We weren't scoring early on. We were defending, but we weren't putting the ball in the basket. We've had some kids step it up -- Brittany Wilson, Jada Payne, Nadia Duncan have been shooting the ball pretty well the last few games and that helps a lot," says Explorers head coach Jeff Williams. "Defensively, we've been pretty sound. We're still not rebounding the basketball the way I like, but we're working at it."
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Wilson, specifically, has been phenomenal lately. A redshirt junior, she is the reigning Atlantic 10 and Big 5 "Player of the Week" after pouring in 29.5 points per game in two wins last week.
Overall on the season, Wilson leads the Explorers at 14.6 points per game.
"Brittany's a very talented kid," says Coach Williams. "She can score the ball, she can handle it. She's a pretty good rebounder from the guard position. It was just a matter of time before she started to click. She transferred in last year and was really unable to practice all year due to a concussion. So she just kind of had to get her legs under her and get the feel."
This winning streak for La Salle has overlapped with the opening of Atlantic 10 play, allowing the Explorers to start the conference season at 3-0, their first 3-0 start in Atlantic 10 action since the 1996-97 season.
The six-game winning streak is the longest for La Salle since a seven-gamer back in November and December of 2006.
