PHILADELPHIA – Saint Louis used a 10-0 run in the third quarter and outscored the Saint Joseph's women's basketball squad 18-11 in the fourth to hand the Hawks a 63-60 loss at Hagan Arena on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Hawks drop to 5-4 overall (3-4 A-10) while the Billikens improve to 6-3 overall (4-3 A-10).
Tied 55-55 heading into the final 2:28, Saint Louis scored four unanswered points on a jumper from Ciaja Harbison (1:41) and a pair of free throws from Rachel Kent (1:16). Saint Joseph's sophomore guard
Kaliah Henderson answered with a jumper (:52) to close the Hawks' deficit to two, 59-57, but the Billkens hit four free throws and held the Hawks scoreless heading into the final three seconds of play. Graduate student guard
Alayna Gribble hit her fourth three-pointer of the day at that three-second mark to bring the Hawks to within three, 63-60, and the Billkens would go 0-for-2 from the stripe on the other end of the floor, but SJU's final shot attempt to tie didn't fall.
"It was a great game, I just think we went cold and couldn't score and gave it away," said head coach
Cindy Griffin following the loss. "Saint Louis is a very good team, but I really thought that we gave it away with our fouling. I did think we showed some really good team offense and good team defense."
Henderson (6-of-10 FG) and Gribble (four 3FG) led the Hawks in scoring with 12 points apiece while graduate student forward
Alexis Santarelli added nine points (4-of-8 FG) and senior guard
Lula Roig chipped in eight points (4-of-4 FG) - including her own 6-0 run in the second quarter - and two steals with zero turnovers to her name in 17 minutes off the bench. Junior forward
Katie Mayock added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds to go with three assists.
Of note, the Hawks got to the free throw line once on the day, as Mayock hit her attempt at the 8:18 mark of the second quarter. The Billikens shot 22-of-33 from the stripe.
How It Happened
Q1 – Trailing by two, 7-5 (with all of SJU's first five points of the game scored by Santarelli), at the 8:01 mark of the opening quarter, the Hawks went on a 7-0 run as Henderson hit back-to-back jumpers (6:58, 6:29) and Gribble drained her first three of the day (4:17) to give the Crimson and Gray a five-point edge, 12-7. Saint Louis scored the next five points of the game to even out the scoring, 12-12, with 2:31 remaining in the first, but Mayock hit a deep jumper with 30 ticks to play to give SJU a 14-12 lead after the opening 10:00.
Q2 – The Hawks used a 9-2 run to open the second quarter and to extend their advantage by nine points, 23-14, by the 8:18 mark as Gribble (9:48) and junior guard
Lovin Marsicano (9:02) hit three-pointers and Mayock fought through a double team to hit a lay-up +1. After Saint Louis drained a three to close its deficit to seven points, 23-17, Roig tore off for six straight points, with two of those buckets coming off of her own steals forced in the defensive end, to put the Hawks ahead by 10 points, 29-19, at the 4:51 mark. The Billikens then went on an 8-0 run of their own to close to within two points, 29-27, but junior guard
Katie Jekot took control, forcing an SLU turnover that turned into an
Olivia Mullins three and assisting on a Mayock bucket with 30 ticks left in the half to give the Hawks a seven-point advantage, 34-27, heading into the halftime break.
Q3 – The Billikens used a 10-0 run from the 5:44 mark to the 2:26 mark of the third to close their deficit to two points, 45-43. Roig (1:57) and Santarelli (1:05) strung together four points en route to a slight four-point advantage for the Hawks, 49-45, heading into the fourth.
Q4 – Saint Louis went 5-of-6 from the line to open the fourth, pulling ahead, 50-49, at the 6:47 mark, but the Hawks put together a 6-3 run on jumpers from Henderson (6:26) and sophomore forward
Gabby Smalls (5:04, 3:18) to go back ahead by two, 55-53. From there, SLU went on a 6-0 run to once again go ahead, 59-55, and to set up the final 76 seconds of play.
Behind the Box Score
• Marsicano made her first start of the season and second of her career.
