Women’s City Six notebook: Dynamic duo leads La Salle; Drexel learning from losses

Kayla Spruill joined teammate Claire Jacobs as La Salle players to win Big Five Player of the Week this season. Spruill was honored after scoring 24 points in La Salle’s first win over Duquesne since 2014, a 67-63 victory on Sunday.

Spruill and Jacobs are La Salle’s leading scorers. After 13 games, it’s clear the two players have a major impact on the Explorers’ success. Spruill missed five games after suffering a bone bruise in her tibia and fibula before returning against St. Bonaventure. Her presence was notably absent in the 65-36 loss to St. Joe’s.

“Claire didn’t have a great shooting game, and there’s nobody there to pick up the slack,” head coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “Now, we got two kids that can play off each other.”

Those two players have gained the honors, but La Salle (6-7, 2-4 Atlantic 10) is developing a mix of players who know their roles. Amy Jacobs, Claire’s identical twin sister, has become a weapon defensively. She has the versatility to guard multiple positions, which makes things a lot easier for her coach. It’s a mild surprise, considering both sisters arrived from Australia being touted for their offense.

“Amy Jacobs is one of the best defenders in the league,” MacGillivray said. “We literally put her on everybody. Whoever we need to stop, Amy Jacobs is guarding her.”

La Salle will host George Washington on Friday (6 p.m.) and George Mason on Sunday (2 p.m.).

Coaches tend to learn most about their teams in the toughest moment. Drexel is coming off its most difficult week, and Amy Mallon is learning.

The Dragons started the season 6-1 but lost two of their last three.

“We’re seeing a little bit of our youth as far as the kids we’re hoping to get some minutes from,” Mallon said. “We got in foul trouble in the two games we lost. We can’t be in position where we have three starters in foul trouble in the second quarter.”

It won’t be long before that new information is put to the test. The Dragons (6-3, 3-1 Colonial Athletic Association) will play a tough Elon (5-3, 1-1) squad, who is third in the CAA in field-goal-percentage defense. Drexel leads the conference, so this could be an old-fashioned low-scoring CAA battle.

“They put a lot of pressure on you,” Mallon said. “We always have battles with them.”

Temple got off to a 4-0 start in American Athletic Conference play before losing its last two games. The latest was an 80-46 loss at Houston on Wednesday. Senior forward Mia Davis had just her third single-digit scoring game in the last three seasons. Her five points against Houston was her lowest total since January 2018. That also came against Houston in her freshman season.

The Owls (4-5, 4-2 AAC) will host Wichita State on Saturday (1 p.m.).

St. Joseph’s and Villanova are returning to action after COVID pauses. The Hawks play George Washington on Sunday (2 p.m.), and Villanova will host St. John’s on Monday (7 p.m.).

St. Joe’s (3-1, 1-1 Atlantic 10) have been impacted as much as any school in Philadelphia by COVID-19 pauses. The Hawks have played just four games after starting the season on a pause.

Villanova (8-2, 3-2 Big East) is facing its longest layoff of the season. The Wildcats last played on Jan. 6 at Seton Hall, a 78-71 victory.