Aidan Tyksinski, Editor 

Groundhog Day is this week, which means that college basketball fans’ favorite month is fast approaching: March. It feels as though conference play has just started, but soon the regular season will end, and the La Salle men’s and women’s teams will be making their trips to Brooklyn and Virginia for their respective A10 tournaments. With that being said, here is the recap of how both teams fared in the last week. 

La Salle Women’s Basketball

The Explorers suffered a tough loss this past week against a very hot Rhode Island squad, 75-47. The Explorers started the game off slowly, making only two baskets in the first quarter, both of which were made by guard Makayla Miller. The Rams struggled to make shots as well in the opening frame but were aided by seven free throws to get a 17-5 lead at the end of the quarter. La Salle scored 42 combined in the last three quarters, but Rhode Island tore apart the Explorers defense in the third quarter, totaling 28 points and shooting 52% from the field. Nicole Malicious led La Salle with 15 points, while Miller finished the game with 13. The Explorers record fell to 6-13 overall and 3-5 in A-10 play, placing the team 10^th in the Conference. An upcoming game to look out for is a home game on Sunday against Dayton. The Flyers are currently 3-6 in A10 play and half a game behind La Salle in the standings. If the Explorers want to gain momentum this season, this will be the game to do so. To win, La Salle will have to shut down the Flyers’ three best scorers, guards Ivy Wolf and Destiney Bohanon and forward Arinna Smith. All three players are averaging over 10 points per game.

La Salle Men’s Basketball

Unfortunately for La Salle basketball fans, the men’s team is off to an even worse start than the women’s team in conference play. They were able to beat George Washington on Saturday, thanks to 20 points by Khalil Brantly and 19 points by Jhamir Brickus. Freshman Tunder Vahlberg Fasasi, who started in place of Anwar Gill while Gill works his way back into shape after an injury, also scored 19 in their 80-70 win. This came after a 66-54 loss to 16th-ranked Dayton, a game in which the Explorers fought hard but struggled to stop the Flyers best player, DaRon Holmes II. The win on Saturday was much needed and snapped La Salle’s five-game losing streak. The Explorers are still sitting with a winning record at 11-9 but are 2-5 in A10 play, placing them in 14^th place in the Conference. It’s been a disappointing January for a La Salle team that closed out non-conference play with a 9-5 record, with two of the last three games being a close loss to a ranked Miami team and a blowout win over Rosemont College. The team can hopefully keep this momentum going as they face archrival Saint Josephs on Saturday.