PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's women's basketball (4-6, 2-1 Big 5) posted a season high in field goal and three-point shooting percentages Saturday afternoon inside McGionigle Hall to push the Hawks past Temple (5-4, 1-1 Big 5), 73-63. This marks St. Joe's third-straight win and second-straight Big 5 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- St. Joe's was fast out of the gate seeing rookie Mackenzie Smith score the first nine points of the game for SJU at the media timeout with 4:52 left in the opening period. The Hawks held a 9-2 lead during that time. The lead remained at seven by the end of the period, 17-10 after senior Katie Mayock answered Smith's 11-straight Hawks' points with four of her own. St. Joe's went 8-of-15 in the opening period and held the Owls to 5-of-14.
- Temple pulled ahead over the initial 5:10 of the second stanza with a 12-4 scoring differential. SJU regained the lead by halftime as the squad tallied an 11-3 advantage over the rest of the half, including an 8-0 run over the final 2:00 for a 32-25 lead. Graduate student Katie Jekot dropped 12 points in the period on a perfect 4-of-4 from long range.
- It was nearly even over the beginning 5:11 of the third period with the Owls holding a 9-8 margin with the Hawks up, 40-34. SJU took nine of the 16 points scored over the rest of the third for a 49-41 lead.
- Temple cut the deficit to seven with a 12-11 advantage over the first 5:04 of regulation. The Hawks finished on the positive end of a 13-10 differential to close out the game.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE:
- The Hawks hit 48.1% (26-of-54) overall, 52.9% (9-of-17) from deep, and 75.0% (12-of-16) from the line.
- The Owls went 48.1% (25-of-52) from the field, 27.8% (5-of-18) from long range, and 66.7% (8-of-12) from the stripe.
- SJU won the rebounding (32-24) and turnover (+1) battles.
- Jekot finished with a career best 25 points on 6-of-16 overall, 5-of-9 from deep, and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. She added six rebounds, six steals, and five assists to her line. The five triples tie her career high which she set last game.
- Smith recorded 12 points overall with three boards and three assists.
- Senior Lovin Marsicano and sophomore Emma Boslet each tallied nine points. It was a season high for Marsicano and career best for Boslet. Boslet also handed out four assists to tie her career mark.
- Rookie Laila Fair paced the Hawks with seven rebounds.
UP NEXT:
The Hawks will have a break for final exams next week before welcoming Vanderbilt to Hagan Arena on Tues., December 21.
