PHILADELPHIA – Graduate student guard
Alayna Gribble poured in a game-high 19 points, which included a perfect 5-of-5 showing from deep, to lead the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad to a dominant 80-52 home win over Monmouth in Hagan Arena on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, SJU improves to 2-0 while Monmouth drops to 0-4.
Paced by 7-of-8 shooting from the field, Gribble led 10 Hawks in scoring, followed by graduate student forward
Alexis Santarelli's 11 points (5-of-6 FG) and eight apiece from senior guard
Lula Roig (3-of-7 FG, all in the fourth quarter) and junior forward
Katie Mayock (3-of-6 FG).
Sophomore forward
Gabby Smalls pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in 20 minutes of play while junior guard
Katie Jekot added a game-high six assists and turned the ball over just once in a team-high 23 minutes.
"I am really impressed with how our team came out today," said head coach
Cindy Griffin, who picked up her 380th career win (332nd with the Hawks) on Tuesday. "We produced offensively, and we were a little bit more patient today. The ball moved, and we got better shots. We made a lot of shots . . . I'm just really happy with how we improved from Game 1 to Game 2. I really was impressed with our defensive tenacity today. We were very disruptive and were able to take Monmouth out of their flow."
"I'm glad to be back on the court, especially with this team," added Gribble, who is averaging 16 points per game in her first two contests donning the Crimson and Gray. "It feels great to be starting out the season strong."
How It Happened
Q1 – Saint Joseph's went a perfect 5-of-5 from deep en route to shooting 80 percent (12-of-15) from the field to jump out to a 29-9 advantage after the opening 10:00; Gribble (3-of-3 from deep) and Santarelli (3-of-3 FG) combined for 15 points while sophomore guard
Kaliah Henderson dished out three helpers during the opening quarter.Â
Q2 – The (home) Hawks outscored the (visiting) Hawks, 16-15, in the second quarter to take a 21-point advantage, 45-24, into the halftime break, led by four points apiece from Henderson (2-of-2 FG) and Smalls (2-of-3 FG).
Q3 – Offense and defense came together for the Crimson and Gray in the third, as the Hawks shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12 from the field) and held Monmouth to just nine points for the quarter and shut the visitors out from deep (0-4). Smalls held down the defensive end with five defensive rebounds while Gribble poured in 10 more points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor - including 2-of-2 from deep - and junior forward
Katie Mayock came up big with six points (2-of-2 FG) and three defensive boards.
Q4 – Leading by 34 points, 67-33, heading into the fourth, the Hawks added a 13-point final quarter, with senior guard
Lula Roig chipping in eight of those points en route to the 28-point win.
Behind the Boxscore
• Freshman guard
Olivia Mullins scored her first collegiate points on a three-pointer late in the first quarter and finished the game with six total points.
• Freshman guard
Emma Boslet made her collegiate debut at the 6:14 mark of the second quarter and finished with four rebounds in 10 minutes of play.
• All 12 available Hawks played in Tuesday's game, with each player seeing at least 10 minutes of action.
Â
