PHILADELPHIA – Coming off of a buzzer-beater road win over St. Bonaventure that snapped a four-game losing skid for the Crimson and Gray, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad (8-10, 2-4 A-10) heads to La Salle (7-12, 1-5 A-10) for Atlantic 10 and Big 5 action this Sunday, January 26. Opening tip at Tom Gola Arena is set for 2:00 p.m. and will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.
For ticket's to Sunday's game, please click
here.
The Hawks were predicted to finish 10th in the A-10 this year, according to the
2019-20 A-10 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll conducted by the league's 14 head coaches and announced on October 29, while La Salle was predicted to finish 14th.
Saint Joseph's is 49-10 all-time against La Salle and has won the last seven meetings dating back to January 14, 2017, and 21 of the last 22 meetings dating back to February 19, 2006.
Last time out, sophomore forward
Katie Mayock grabbed an offensive rebound and put back the game-winning shot as time expired to send SJU past St. Bonaventure, 61-60, in Atlantic 10 action at the Reilly Center on Wednesday, January 22. The win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Hawks. Saint Joseph's five starters - junior guard
Lula Roig (10 points, team-high six rebounds), freshman forward
Gabby Smalls (10 points), senior guard
Nailah Delinois (eight points), junior guard
Mary Sheehan (eight points), and sophomore guard
Katie Jekot (eight points, team-high four assists) combined for 44 of SJU's 61 points in the victory.
ALL-DAY KJ
Sophomore guard
Katie Jekot is the returning leading scorer from last year's squad. Jekot averaged 7.5 points per game in all 31 appearances with 25 starts in 2018-19 and is SJU's returning leader in total steals (36) and three-pointers (42).
This year, the sophomore leads the squad in scoring (10.4 ppg), field goals made (65), three-pointers made (27), and minutes (30.9) and is shooting 88.2 percent (30-of-34) from the free throw line. Jekot turned in her first career double-double with a season-high 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds – both game-high numbers - in SJU's 71-44 win over Sacred Heart on December 4 and has nine double-digit scoring games this season.
NOTHING SMALL FROM SMALLS
In her first career start at Auburn on November 24, freshman forward
Gabby Smalls stole the show with a career- and game-high 19 points (9-of-10 FG) and a team-high eight rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Despite the 66-62 loss, Smalls was a bright spot in the highly-competitive match-up.
In her second career start, at VCU on January 8, Smalls scored a team-high 14 points, with 10 coming in the fourth quarter, on 5-of-7 shooting from the field to go with six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in 22 minutes.
Smalls leads the squad in field goal percentage (55.6 percent on 55-for-99 shooting) and rebounds per game (5.9 on 106 total boards)
Be sure to follow the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team on Instagram and Twitter and like the Hawks on Facebook. Fans can receive all of the latest news and info on the women's basketball program with Hawk E-New
