New-look La Salle is off to a surprising start. A significant reason why is this returning Explorer.

After averaging 10.8 points over the first four games of her freshman season, La Salle guard Aryss Macktoon had to make a difficult decision.

During the Explorers’ fourth game that season, a 71-46 loss to Drexel at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Nov. 15, 2023, Macktoon’s shoulder subluxed, or partially dislocated, for the third time in a six-month span. The first happened in June, before the Baltimore native arrived on La Salle’s campus. It happened again during a preseason practice in the fall. The third time caused the guard, who also had a “little tear” in her labrum, to evaluate her medical options.

Macktoon chose to get her shoulder surgically repaired, with her eyes set on the summer.

“It was either to have surgery then or wait until the end of the season and miss summer workouts,” Macktoon said. “I thought it would be better if I would just miss my freshman season and be able to improve and work with the team during the summer, rather than playing my freshman year and then miss summer workouts when everyone else is improving.”

Now, Macktoon is a crucial part of a new-look La Salle team that is already two wins shy of matching its eight-win total from last season.

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After Macktoon’s surgery, she spent the team’s practice time rehabbing her shoulder. She was cleared to shoot in April. By the time she was cleared for full-speed basketball activity in early July, many of the teammates Macktoon knew were gone.

Only two players — Macktoon and graduate guard Jolene Armendariz — returned to La Salle from its 2023-24 roster. Despite only playing in four games, Macktoon learned from being around practice and on the sidelines.

“[Macktoon] knew what we weren’t last year, and she knew what we wanted to be,” La Salle head coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “She had a fuller picture than the other 13 kids coming in. Right from the beginning, in the summer, she didn’t hesitate to speak up.”

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One thing La Salle was not was a defensively-minded team. The Explorers allowed 70.8 points per game in 2023-24, ranking 310th out of 360 Division I programs. This year’s Explorers allowed 62 points per game through the first 11 games of the season.

Though this number is likely not as low as the team would like it to be, the 8.8-point reduction placed the Explorers 153rd of 362 nationally as of Tuesday. Macktoon leads the charge as the team’s defensive leader.

“With me and [Armendariz] being the only returners, we’re the only ones who know what the defensive rules are [or] what we expect on offense,” Macktoon said. “With everyone coming from different places, they had different rules on their teams. They had different expectations. With me knowing what the team environment is, it helped a lot with getting the team together [and] helping us be more synchronized on the floor.”

Advanced metrics like defensive rating and defensive box plus/minus declare Macktoon the Explorers’ best individual defender, but she also leads the team in steals. She has recorded 32 steals over the first 11 games.

Her 2.9 steals per game makes her the third-best pickpocket in the Atlantic 10 behind Duquesne senior guard Megan McConnell (4.4 steals per game) and St. Louis senior guard Kennedy Calhoun (3.3).

Macktoon said she was “too excited to play” at the start of the season and struggled to score consistently. Over La Salle’s first five games, Macktoon posted seven points per game on 29.6% shooting.

She turned to defense to calm herself down.

“Not seeing the ball go in the basket a couple times, it’s a little like, ‘What’s going on? Why is this happening?’” Macktoon said. “Once I get energy on defense, my game picks up and I start feeling it.”

Often, Macktoon can jump a passing lane and create an easy two-point opportunity for herself. She has attempted 119 two-point field goals this season, the most in the A-10, and averages 10.6 points and 4.7 rebounds.

“It’s not just that they’re taking a possession away from our opponent, they’re often turning into an easy two-point shot for her,” MacGillivray said. “Which then gets her going. Feeling good like, ‘Hey, I just made a play for my team.’ Then the next possession on offense she’s feeling a little bit better.”

Tuesday’s road game against Texas was the third time the Explorers faced an AP Top 25 opponent in MacGillivray’s seven seasons as head coach. The Explorers recorded a 74-52 loss to No. 20 Kentucky in Lexington on Nov. 27, 2021. Their most recent experience with a top-10 team came in a 100-46 loss at No. 9 Oregon State on Dec. 1, 2018.

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While the odds of an Explorers victory in Austin, Texas, are slim, the team was excited to have an opportunity to test itself against a high-major program.

“I think it’s good exposure for us to see what we can be, or how we play, against good teams,” Macktoon said. “If we play well against Texas, then we see that we can keep up with good teams, so we shouldn’t be playing down to anyone’s level. Even if we don’t play as well as we think, we’re able to improve from there and just see what we can do better.”