PHILADELPHIA – Junior forward Lovin Marsicano poured in a career-high 15 points to lead the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad (3-0, 1-0 A-10) to a 65-36 win over La Salle (3-6, 0-3 A-10) in the Hawks' Atlantic 10 opener at Hagan Arena on Friday afternoon. The Crimson and Gray outrebounded the Explorers 55-40 and held them to to just 1-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc.

"We came out really strong and confident," beamed head coach Cindy Griffin after the win. "Our defense was exceptional today. We were able to defend multiple actions. The players really bought into the game plan, and we were able to shut down some of their top scorers and keep them from making threes. We did a really good job of that."

Marsicano's game-high 15 points came on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including a game-high three three-pointers, to go with a career-high three blocks in a career-high 26 minutes.

"We've been wanting to play a game for so long, and we were so pumped coming back not only to a conference game, but to a Philly 5 game, as well," said Marsicano. "Our team takes pride in that. It felt so good being out there with everyone; we got after it and got the win!"

"Lovin was very solid for us today," added Griffin of the game's top scorer. "She came in and gave us what we needed. With [Alayna] Gribble out today, she had the opportunity to come in and be that shooter for us, and she did it really, really well. I'm happy for her that she was ready and shot the ball with confidence. I'm just so proud of her."

Sophomore guard Kaliah Henderson (career-high 14 points, seven rebounds, three steals) and sophomore forward Gabby Smalls (11 points, nine rebounds) added double-digit scoring performances while sophomore forward Jaden Walker (career-high nine rebounds, career-high two blocks) was outstanding on the defensive end of the floor.

The Hawks also got strong defensive performances from captains Katie Jekot, who added a game-high six assists, and Mary Sheehan, who made her first start of the season.

How It Happened
Q1 – Despite shooting just 3-of-12 from the field in the opening 10:00, the Hawks knocked down a pair of three-pointers courtesy graduate student forward Alexis Santarelli (9:31) and junior forward Lovin Marsicano (2:38) and held the Explorers 0-of-5 from deep to earn a six-point advantage, 17-10. Sophomore forward Gabby Smalls led all scorers in the opening quarter with seven points (1-of-1 FG), shooting 83.3 percent from the stripe.

Q2 – The Hawks held the Explorers to just 3-of-15 shooting from the field (and 0-of-7 from deep) in the second quarter and used a 14-4 run in the final 5:31 to take a 14-point advantage into the halftime break, 31-17. Jekot dished out four of her game-high six assists during that run while Marsicano and Walker combined for 13 points and six rebounds to come up big for the Crimson and Gray.