AMHERST, Mass. – Plagued by 23 turnovers and 15-of-50 shooting from the field, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad dropped a 61-43 road contest at UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday afternoon. With their second straight conference loss, the Hawks fall to 7-8 overall (1-2 Atlantic 10) while the Minutewomen extend their winning streak to 10 games to improve to 13-3 (3-0 Atlantic 10).
Saint Joseph's split up 36 of its points among five players as junior guard
Lula Roig, freshman forward
Gabby Smalls, and freshman combo guard
Jaden Walker (career-high 19 minutes) scored eight apiece and senior guard
Nailah Delinois and sophomore forward
Elizabeth Marsicano (career-high 25 minutes) chipped in six each.
Junior guard
Mary Sheehan and sophomore guard
Devyne Newman pulled down a team-high six rebounds apiece.
How It Happened
Q1 – Tied 6-6 early (6:49), with all of SJU's points courtesy of freshman forward
Gabby Smalls, UMass broke away on a 13-2 run that spanned the rest of the quarter, closing the first with a 19-8 advantage. For the quarter, the Hawks were hurt by seven turnovers, as the Minutewomen scored over half of their points (10) off of them.
Q2 – After UMass opened the second with a lay-up to extend its run to 15-2, sophomore forward
Elizabeth Marsicano sparked a 6-0 run that would bring SJU to within six points, 21-15, at the 6:06 mark; just 43 seconds after checking in, Marsicano knocked down a jumper (7:03) and followed up with a lay-up (6:41) on SJU's next offensive set. The sophomore then stole the ball away from UMass' Maeve Donnelly (6:12) to earn possession back for the Hawks, and senior guard
Nailah Delinois hit a three-pointer at the other end of the floor (6:06) to close out the run.
After five straight points from UMass, SJU went on another 6-0 run, as freshman combo guard
Jaden Walker (4:47) and junior guard
Lula Roig (3:46) each pulled down offensive boards and went back up with successful lay-ups and Marsicano hit her second jumper of the game (3:18) to pull the Hawks back to within five, 26-21. From that point, the Minutewomen closed out the half on a 6-1 run to take a 33-22 advantage into the halftime break.
Q3 & Q4 – A low-scoring third quarter for both teams saw the Mintutewomen put 12 on the board compared to the Hawks' seven as UMass took a 16-point advantage, 45-29, into the final 10:00. Saint Joseph's opened the fourth on a 7-2 tear as Walker hit a jumper (9:32), sophomore guard
Devyne Newman drained a three (7:14), and junior guard
Mary Sheehan sank a pair of free throws (6:40) to close its deficit to 11 points, 47-36 at the media timeout (5:21). However, UMass outscored SJU 14-9 for the remainder of the game, which included nine of the final 11 points of regulation, for the win.
Behind the Boxscore
• All 12 Hawks saw minutes in Saturday's game.
• Sophomore forward
Elizabeth Marsicano had career-high numbers in minutes played (25), field goals made (3) and attempted (9), and rebounds (5) and matched her career-high points total (6).
• Freshman combo guard
Jaden Walker saw career-high numbers in points (8), minutes played (19) and field goals made (3) and attempted (7).
• Sophomore guard
Devyne Newman pulled down a career-high six rebounds while senior guard
Nailah Delinois matched her season-high rebound total, with five.
• Saturday's loss was the program's first road loss to UMass since February 25, 2010.
• UMass scored 17 of its points on free throws, 21 of its points off of SJU turnovers, and 30 of its points in the paint.
Up Next
Saint Joseph's returns home to host Rhode Island (8-6, 1-1 A-10) this Wednesday, January 18. Opening tip is set at 5:00 p.m., the front end of a doubleheader with men's basketball (7:30 p.m. vs. Rhode Island). The Rams will face Davidson on the road on Sunday, January 12 before coming to Hawk Hill for the mid-week conference game.
