RICHMOND, Va. – Trailing by two at the halftime break, VCU exploded for 40 second-half points to hand the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad a 64-49 road loss at the Siegel Center on Saturday evening. The Hawks now fall to 5-9 overall (3-9 A-10) while the Rams improve to 11-9 overall (9-4 A-10).
Junior forward
Katie Mayock led the Hawks with a season-high 12 points (6-of-8 FG) and a season-high eight rebounds while sophomore guard
Kaliah Henderson also added 12 points (5-of-11 FG) and freshman guard
Olivia Mullins chipped in a career-high nine points (3-of-8 FG).
How It Happened
Q1 – Despite committing six turnovers in the opening 10:00, Saint Joseph's held VCU to 3-of-16 shooting from the field (18.8 percent) to trail by just one, 9-8, at the end of the first. Jumpers from Henderson (8:07) and Mullins (1:08) bookended lay-ups from sophomore forward
Gabby Smalls (4:32) and Mayock (3:59) as the quartet combined for SJU's eight first-quarter points.
Q2 – Henderson and Mayock combined for 12 points and SJU outscored VCU 10-2 in the paint in the second to lead the Hawks to an 18-point quarter and to take a two-point advantage, 26-24, into the halftime break.
Q3 – VCU came out firing in the second half, outscoring SJU 17-6 in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead, 41-32, into the fourth. Trailing by three, 30-27, at the 7:19 mark, the Rams tore off on a 14-2 run to close the quarter. Henderson had four of SJU's six points as the Hawks were held to just 3-of-10 shooting from the field (30.0 percent) compared to the Rams' 6-of-12 shooting performance (50.0 percent). SJU also turned the ball over seven times in the third, and the Rams scored nine points on those opportunities.
Q4 – Paced by a combined 15 points from graduate student forward
Alexis Santarelli (six), Mullins (five), and Mayock (four), the Hawks battled with 17 points in the fourth and closed to within seven at the 3:06 mark after Henderson hustled for an offensive board and got the ball to Mayock, who hit the second-chance jumper. However, the Rams went 11-of-12 from the line and the Hawks went 1-of-8 from the field in the final 2:18 as regulation came to an end.
