Led by a career-high 25 points from senior Alyssa Monaghan, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team rallied from down by as many as 10 points to top La Salle, 60-57, on Sunday in a Big 5 matchup at Hagan Arena.

Shooting 9-14 from the floor, including 5-7 from three-point range and 2-4 from the foul line, Monaghan set a new career-high for points and added a game-high four assists and three steals to help the Hawks improve to 6-12 overall, 2-3 in the Atlantic 10 and 1-3 in the Big 5.

Looking to snap the Hawks' five-game series win streak, the Explorers opened a 21-11 advantage in the second quarter and headed to the lockerroom ahead 27-23 after controlling the pace for most of the the opening 20 minutes.

La Salle continued to set the tone in the third as it scored the first four points of the quarter to push its lead to 32-23 on a Shalina Miller jumper at 8:24.

Backed by a combined 12 points from Monaghan and classmate Kristalyn Baisden, Saint Joseph's put together a 12-2 run to take a 35-34 lead on a Monaghan jumper at 3:49.

La Salle answered with four-straight points and headed into the final quarter up 43-42.

Monaghan opened the scoring in the final 10 minutes with a three-pointer to put the Hawks ahead 45-43. Saint Joseph's would never relinquish the lead from there.

Despite the Explorers making it a one-possession game in the final minutes, SJU got key stops and hit free throws at the other end to improve to 48-10 all-time versus La Salle.

For the game, SJU shot 39.1 percent from the field (18-46), 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-17) and 56.7 percent from the foul line (17-30). 

Baisden joined Monaghan in double-figures with 10 points, while Katie Jekot chipped in with nine points.

Miller and Shayla Sweeney each had 14 points to lead La Salle as the visitors finished the game going 22-49 from the field (44.9 percent), 5-14 from behind the arc (42.9 percent) and went 7-14 from the foul line. With the loss, the Explorers moved to 3-16 overall, 0-5 in the A-10 and finished with a 0-4 Big 5 record.

The Hawks return to the road for a pair of games starting this Wednesday at Richmond. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Lula Roig finished with a game-high seven rebounds and scored six points...Katie Mayock added six points...Whisper Fisher ended with four points and five rebounds...Nailah Delinois added two rebounds an assist and a steal...Elizabeth Marsicano grabbed an offensive rebound...Mary Sheehan and Michala Clay each saw action.

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