PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sophomore guard
Katie Jekot scored seven consecutive points to close the Hawks' deficit to nine, 49-40, with 4:21 to play, but the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad fell short against Duquesne, 53-42, in Atlantic 10 action at La Roche University on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks now fall to 8-15 (2-9 A-10) while the Dukes improve to 16-7 (6-4 A-10).
Jekot finished as Saint Joseph's top scorer with 16 points (7-of-19 FG), including two three-pointers, while junior point guard
Lula Roig finished with seven points and a team-high four assists and junior guard
Mary Sheehan pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds, six offensive and four defensive.
The big stat for the game was the difference in three-point shooting, as the Dukes drilled nine on the afternoon (9-of-20) and the Hawks were held to Jekot's two (2-of-14).
How It Happened
Q1 – Duquesne shot 50.0 percent from the field (8-of-16) and held Saint Joseph's to 21.4-percent shooting (3-of-14) while forcing six SJU turnovers for an 11-point advantage, 19-8. Trailing 19-5 with 41 ticks on the scoreboard, sophomore guard
Katie Jekot hit a three to close the quarter.
Q2 – The Hawks scored four straight points on back-to-back jumpers (Jekot, Rachel Gartner), but the Dukes tore off on a 16-1 run and held the Hawks scoreless for just under six minutes (5:47) to jump out to a 35-15 advantage at the 3:46 mark. Junior guard Lula Roig snapped the Hawks' scoring drought with a driving lay-up (2:46). Duquesne would go on to take a 35-19 lead into the halftime break to complete a 50-percent shooting half (14-of-28 FG) for the first 20:00.
Q3 – Saint Joseph's shut down Duquesne's offense in the third quarter, holding the Dukes to just 9.1 percent shooting from the field (1-of-11) to outscore the home team, 12-6. The Hawks opened the scoring on a 6-2 run, capped by a lay-up by sophomore forward
Elizabeth Marsicano (7:40), and ended the quarter by closing the deficit to 10 points, 41-31.
Q4 – Duquesne opened the fourth quarter on a 6-1 run to extend its lead, 47-33, before Jekot scored SJU's next seven points - and seven of the game's next nine - on a pair of jumpers and a big three (5:12) to pull the Hawks to within nine, 49-40, by the media timeout (3:16). However, the Hawks would shoot just 1-of-4 from the field in the final 2:37 as time expired on SJU's comeback attempt.
Behind the Boxscore
• Sophomore forward
Elizabeth Marsicano made her first career start.
• Senior guard
Nailah Delinois was unavailable for Sunday's contest due to an injury sustained in SJU's game at Saint Louis on February 6.
Up Next
Saint Joseph's will have a break from mid-week competition and will return home to host La Salle (9-13, 3-6 A-10) this Saturday, February 15. Opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. in Hagan Arena. The Explorers will head to GW on Wednesday for a mid-week tilt before coming to Hawk Hill.
