PHILADELPHIA – Led by graduate student forward Alexis Santarelli's 15-point SJU debut, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad came alive in the second half to earn a 72-64 win over Lincoln in the 2020-21 season opener at Hagan Arena on Sunday afternoon.

"I thought we were playing really fast to start the game, and our kids were just so jacked up to play," said head coach Cindy Griffin, now in her 20th year at the helm of the program. "We were missing a lot of looks. I loved the pace we were playing at, it just wasn't favorable at the time. We were coming up with some empty possessions and giving up a lot on the other end. I thought we made some adjustments in the second half. We took some better shots and converted. We scored when we needed to and got stops when we needed to."

Santarelli, who added six rebounds, a team-best four blocks, and two steals, led five Hawks in double-digits.

"It felt great to finally be able to hit the floor together in a Hawk uniform!" said Santarelli, who shot 7-of-12 from the floor in her first game on Hawk Hill. "Once we got those first-game jitters out, everything else started to flow. It's a lot of fun getting to be a part of this group!"

"We do have experience on our team with some fifth-year seniors, and Alexis did a really great job for us today," said Griffin of her leading scorer. "She gave us composure in that first half."

Sophomore forward Gabby Smalls scored 13 to go with a team-best seven rebounds while graduate student guard Alayna Gribble and junior guard Katie Jekot drained three three-pointers apiece en route to 13 points apiece. Sophomore guard Kaliah Henderson rounded out SJU's double-digit scoring quintet with 10 points.

How It Happened
Q1 and Q2 – Lincoln (0-3) jumped out to a 22-10 lead after the opening 10:00 on 8-of-16 shooting (50%) from the field and 3-of-5 shooting (60.0%) from three while holding the Hawks scoreless beyond the arc in five opportunities. Despite eight second-quarter turnovers, Saint Joseph's clawed back with 5-of-13 shooting from the field (38.5%) compared to Lincoln's 6-of-22 shooting (27.3%) to close its deficit to 13 points, 37-24, heading into the halftime break. Santarelli led all Hawks in scoring after the first 20:00 with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
Q4 – The Hawks outshot the Lions, 23-13, in the fourth, shooting 7-of-17 (41.2%) from the field and holding Lincoln to just 2-of-10 shooting (20.0%). Smalls was instrumental in the change in momentum as the sophomore opened the quarter with the game-tying lay-up (8:39) and converted the +1 to give the Hawks their first lead since early in the first quarter, 52-51; Smalls entered the fourth quarter at the 9:01 mark and went off for five points, two defensive rebounds, and one block in the next 1:52 minutes of action to keep the Hawks even, 54-54, with 7:09 remaining in regulation. After going back down by four, 58-54, with 6:19 to play, Jekot hit her third three-pointer of the day (6:06) and Smalls added another bucket (4:47) to give the Hawks the lead again - 59-58 with 5:27 to go. From the point, the Hawks closed the game on a 13-6 run to ensure the victory.

Behind the Boxscore
• Sophomore forward Jaden Walker made her first collegiate start while graduate student forward Alexis Santarelli and graduate student guard Alayna Gribble made their SJU debuts after joining the program from Lafayette and Pitt, respectively.
• Freshman guard Olivia Mullins made her collegiate debut, with 6:00 of action in the first half.