WILMINGTON, Del. – The seventh-seeded Saint Joseph's Hawks stunned second-seeded Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals, 51-48. The win marked head coach Cindy Griffin's 350^th win at SJU and the first time the Hawks are in the Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinals since 2017-18.
 
St. Joe's will take on the winner of #6 Fordham and #3 UMass, which is being played at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• SJU tallied the first bucket of the game and then traded the next 10 points for a 7-5 lead at the media stoppage with 4:38 left. Rhody outpaced the Hawks to the buzzer, 10-8, for a tie at 15. Laila Fair tallied eight points in the first frame for the Hawks.
• A defensive start to the second quarter saw Rhode Island claim a 5-2 margin at the 4:34 media break with the Hawks at the line for a pair of free throws. The Rams went into the half on a 5-4 spurt to extend their lead to 25-21. All 21 points at the break were scored by rookies.
• St. Joe's ran out to a 7-0 spurt over the opening 1:45 of the third period to force a timeout by Rhody with the Hawks up, 28-25. The Hawks extended their lead as they outpaced URI 9-6 to the break at 4:28. SJU padded the lead with a 4-2 advantage to go up 41-33.
• Rhody pulled within a possession with a 9-3 run to the media break at 4:37. The Hawks held steady with a 7-6 advantage for the win.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE:

• St. Joe's went 47.7% (21-of-44) from the floor, 25.0% (4-of-16) from deep, and 55.6% (5-of-9) from the line.
• Rhody finished 38.9% (21-of-54) overall, 13.3% (2-of-15) from long range, and 100.0% (4-of-4) from the stripe.
• Fair finished with a game-highs in points (17) and rebounds (7). She added a career best six assists and three blocks.
• Talya Brugler tallied 10 points on a 5-of-10 day.