BOCA RATON, Fla. – Freshman forward Claire Melia and sophomore guard Katie Jekot combined for 33 points to pace the Hawks on the offensive end of the court and junior guard Mary Sheehan led a gritty defensive team effort to lead the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad to a 63-39 win over Harvard on the first day of the FAU Holiday Classic, held at Abessinio Court on Friday afternoon. With the win, the Hawks even out at 5-5 while the Crimson fall to 7-4 after being held to its lowest scoring total of the season.

Saint Joseph's will now advance to the championship game of the tournament and face Furman (7-4) tomorrow, December 21, at 4:00 p.m. Furman defeated host-school FAU, 69-63, earlier today.

Melia finished the day with a game-high 18 points (7-of-10 FG) to lead the Hawks in scoring for the fifth time this year while Jekot poured in 15 points, paced by a game-high three three-pointers.

Sheehan was tasked with defending Harvard's Lola Mullaney, who was averaging 17.0 points per game entering the contest. Sheehan held Mullaney to six points for the game and kept her scoreless (0-for-5) from deep.

Also of note, junior guard Lula Roig did a phenomenal job of facilitating the offense and chipped in nine points (3-of-6 FG) while committing just one turnover in 30 minutes from the point.

How It Happened
• Saint Joseph's scored the first nine points of the game and held Harvard scoreless for the opening 6:38 en route to a 13-5 advantage after the first quarter; the Hawks held the Crimson to just 20% shooting (2-of-10 FG) and scored six of their points on Harvard's five turnovers.
• Paced by a trio of Melia lay-ups and capped by a Jekot three-pointer, Saint Joseph's opened the second quarter on an 11-3 run to open up a 16-point advantage with 4:36 to go in the first half. Melia then hit her first of two three-pointers for the game (2:04) and Jekot drilled a three - with contact - with one tick remaining in the half, and if there was any question about the momentum of the game, there wasn't from that point on as the Hawks went into the locker room up by 14 points, 30-16.
• The Hawks opened the third quarter on a 15-4 run, capped by a three-pointer from Delinois (5:26), who had five points and two rebounds during that span. SJU would close the third up by 23 points, 47-24.
• SJU put the game away by shooting 70% in the fourth quarter, going 7-of-10 from the field. Harvard opened the quarter on an 8-0 run to close to within 15 points, 47-32, with 7:02 to play, but SJU responded with a 9-2 run, initiated by a Delinois lay-up (6:30) and highlighted by a five-point spurt from Roig to put the Hawks back up by 22 points, 56-34, en route to the eventual 24-point victory.

Behind the Boxscore
• Saint Joseph's shot 46.3 percent for the game (25-of-54 FG) and scored 22 points off of Crimson turnovers.
• 12 Hawks saw minutes with nine in the scoring column.
• SJU has now won the opening tip seven times in 10 opportunities this season.
• The game was a homecoming for senior guard Nailah Delinois (Sunrise, Fla.) and freshman guard Kaliah Henderson (Tampa, Fla.). Delinois earned the start and recorded eight points and a season-high five rebounds in 22 minutes of work while Henderson scored two points in 11 minutes off the bench.

Postgame Thoughts
"Our defense was tremendous today," beamed head coach Cindy Griffin following the win. "We were really motivated to stop their top two scorers and to really box out and rebound. The kids bought into the game plan and did a great job facilitating that. Mary [Sheehan] was on Lola Mullaney and did a really good job communicating and refusing to let her get any open looks. She just did a really good job, and the team helped her out as well. She was on point today defensively."

"Nailah [Delinois] did a great job today," added Griffin of the Sunrise, Fla. native. "Any time we've needed somebody to fill in, she's always done a really good job of that. She knows her role, and she played her role really well today. It was exciting for her to be out in front of her home crowd and not only win, but get the start. She did a great job for us."