PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's junior guard Lula Roig hit a jumper with 38 seconds remaining in regulation to put the Hawks ahead by one, but URI's Nicole Jorgensen converted a pair of free throws (:28) and SJU was unable to score on the following offensive possession as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad dropped a 49-47 heartbreaker to Rhode Island at Hagan Arena on Saturday evening. With their third consecutive conference loss, the Hawks fall to 7-9 overall (1-3 A-10) while the Rams improve to 9-7 (2-2 A-10).

Sophomore guard Katie Jekot finished with a team-high 17 points (7-of-14 FG, 2-of-7 3FG), with 13 coming in the final 7:15, and a game-high four steals while freshman forward Gabby Smalls added 12 points (6-of-13 FG) and six rebounds.

Roig dished out a game-high five assists to go with six points and just one turnover in 36:51 of action while sophomore forward Katie Mayock finished with a team-high seven rebounds.

How It Happened
Q1 – Back-to-back jumpers by freshman forward Gabby Smalls (8:43, 7:51) and a free throw by sophomore forward Katie Mayock (3:09) saw the Hawks down just one, 6-5, late in the first quarter. After senior forward Nailah Delinois muscled her way through traffic for a jumper in the paint (2:33) to put the Hawks ahead and Rhode Island responded with a lay-up (1:55) to regain the lead, sophomore forward Elizabeth Marsicano hit a three from way beyond the arc at the top of the key (1:32) to give the Hawks a two-point edge, 10-8, to close out the first quarter.

Q2 – Rhode Island scored the first six points of the second quarter and SJU shot 0-for-9 in the opening 4:11 as the Rams took a 14-10 edge into the final 5:49 of the half. Freshman guard Kaliah Henderson (5:31) and Smalls (4:53) hit jumpers on back-to-back offensive possessions to bring the Hawks to within two, 16-14, but Rhode Island put away another lay-up (3:41) to go back up by four, 18-14. Roig would then draw an offensive charge with gritty defense and, on the other end of that possession, Smalls reached eight points - half of SJU's scoring for the half - on a jumper in the paint at the 1:57 mark to close SJU's deficit to two, 18-16, entering the halftime break.

Q3 – The scoring was relatively even in the third quarter, with the Rams barely outscoring the Hawks, 13-12, en route to a 31-28 URI advantage to enter the fourth. Trailing 21-18 at the 8:14 mark, the Hawks went on a 7-0 run - and forced a pair of consecutive URI turnovers - to take a four-point lead, 25-21, into the final 5:56 of the third; Smalls hit a jumper (7:10), Marsicano hit her second three-pointer of the night (6:26), and Roig put away a fastbreak lay-up (5:56) initiated by a Katie Jekot steal. The Rams would then tear off on a 10-1 run to take a five-point lead, 31-26, into the final 29 seconds, but a Jekot lay-up with five ticks to go brought the Hawks to within a three, 31-28, to close the third. 

Q4 – In a final quarter that saw six lead changes, Jekot stole the show for the Hawks as the sophomore scored 13 of SJU's 19 points in the fourth. After Smalls hit her final jumper of the game (8:52) and Rhode Island's Nicole Jorgensen went 1-of-2 from the line (8:13) to keep the Rams up by two, 32-30, Jekot scored SJU's next 10 straight with back-to-back threes (7:15, 5:54) and back-to-back jumpers (4:35, 3:52) to put the Hawks ahead by four, 40-36. The Rams would tie it up, 40-40, on back-to-back plays in the paint (3:23, 2:41), but Roig calmly hit a pair of free throws (2:10) to regain an edge for the Crimson and Gray. Rhode Island would tie it again (1:55), but, out of an SJU timeout, Jekot made an outstanding drive to the basket to convert the lay-up and put away the ensuing free throw as the Hawks took a 45-42 edge into the final minute of play.

With 44 seconds to go, Rhode Island converted a four-point play after Erin Jones was fouled on a three-pointer from the corner, but Roig came through with a phenomenal hustle play at the other end of the court, swooping in to grab an offensive board on a Jekot miss and putting away the lay-up to put the Hawks back up, 47-46, entering the final 38 seconds. A pair of Rhode Island free throws (:28) followed by a pair of offensive SJU misses would set up Rhode Island with another free throw opportunity with seven ticks to go. The Rams converted 1-of-2 points from the stripe and the Hawks regained possession, but an SJU turnover (:03) would seal the victory for the visiting Rams.

Behind the Boxscore
• Sophomore guard Katie Jekot notched her ninth double-digit scoring game of the season and matched her single-game career high steal total (4).
• Freshman forward Gabby Smalls turned in her fourth double-digit scoring game of the season in a career-high 34 minutes.
• Junior guard Lula Roig matched her single-game career high assist total (5).
• Sophomore forward Elizabeth Marsicano scored a career-high six points for the second game in a row, matching her career-high with two three-pointers.
• The loss marked the program's first home defeat to Rhode Island since 1996.

Up Next
Saint Joseph's will host Duquesne (11-6, 1-3 A-10) in conference action this Saturday, January 18. Opening tip is set for noon in Hagan Arena. The game will be aired nationally on CBS Sports Network.