PHILADELPHIA – The Hawks poured in 27 points in the third quarter and held the Eagles to just six points in those same 10 minutes as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 72-51 win over American in the opening game of the 26th Annual Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Hawks even out at 3-3 while the Eagles drop to 2-4.

Sophomore guard Katie Jekot led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field along with four three-pointers while junior guard Mary Sheehan chipped in 13 points with a trio of three-pointers. Freshman forward Gabby Smalls recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while freshman forward Claire Melia rounded out SJU's quartet of double-figure scorers with 10 points of her own.

For the game, the Hawks shot over 45 percent from the field and beyond the arc and went a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.

How It Happened
• Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 21-12 lead to end the first quarter. It was the three-point show as Sheehan (7:31), Jekot (6:52), Sheehan (6:50), and Jekot (4:52) hit four consecutive threes to put the Hawks ahead by 10, 14-4, early.
• Sheehan's third three-pointer of the day at the 8:05 mark of the second quarter pushed SJU's lead out to 16, 28-12, but American tore off on a 12-0 run to close its deficit to within four, 28-24, heading into the final 2:44 of the half. The Eagles would get to within three on a three-pointer at the 1:43 mark, but the Hawks closed the half out strong as sophomore forward Katie Mayock grabbed a defensive rebound and junior point guard Lula Roig drew a shooting foul just before the buzzer; Roig converted both of her free throws to push SJU's lead back out to five, 32-27, entering the halftime break.
• The third quarter changed the game as the Hawks shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the field and 80.0 percent (4-of-5) from beyond the arc and held the Eagles to just six total points. Melia scored all 10 of her points during that span.
• Entering the fourth quarter with a 59-33 advantage, the Hawks kept putting on the offensive pressure, and a lay-up by Smalls with 6:41 to go extended SJU's lead out to 30 as the Hawks eventually took home the 21-point victory.
Postgame Thoughts
"I'm really, really happy with the way we came out shooting the ball today," said head coach Cindy Griffin following the win. "We had been struggling from the three-point line throughout the first five games, and it was nice to get back on track today. We knew that we were going to get some looks based on American's defense. American plays very good defense. They pack it in. We felt that they would take away our strengths, which was our shooting percentage from the inside. We knew we had to make some shots, and Sheehan and Jekot came in and made some shots, which is great to see."

"I'm really excited, because it helped our team win," said junior guard Mary Sheehan following her strong shooting performance. "I changed my shooting form over the summer, so to see it start to pay off a little bit has been exciting. This is such a great team win, and that's what I'm most excited about."