PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's women's basketball held off a late Cincinnati rally on Tuesday night, nine of
Aleah Snead's 19 points coming in the fourth quarter while late free throws from
Rhian Stokes secured a 70-65 victory inside Hagan Arena. The win keeps the Hawks unbeaten to start the season.
FIRST QUARTER
- Faith Stinson opened where she left off against Maine, knocking down the game's first points with a 3-pointer from the wing on the opening possession.
- Cincinnati countered with a 6-0 run to take the lead before Aleah Snead cut the deficit with a layup under the basket.
- The teams traded baskets midway through the quarter, Emily Knouse burying a three-point attempt to cut the deficit back to one.
- Saint Joseph's forced a four-minute scoring drought from the Bearcats, but the Hawks could only answer with a lone free throw from Cecilia Kay to cut the deficit to 13-11 after the first quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
- A 7-2 run from Cincinnati opened the second quarter quickly built a 20-13 lead, forcing head coach Cindy Griffin into a timeout.
- Out of the break, Gabby Casey started a 7-2 run for the Hawks to cut the lead back to two before a 3-pointer from the Bearcats ended the run.
- The momentum continued for the hosts, however, as Knouse scored five points as the Hawks propelled to an 8-0 run to take their first lead since the opening minute.
- The visitors responded with seven consecutive points of their own before a third 3-pointer from Knouse with 12 seconds remaining sent the Hawks into the locker room with a 32-31 deficit.
THIRD QUARTER
- St. Joe's made its first two baskets of the half while going 5-for-5 from the free throw line to build a 41-34 lead in the opening three minutes.
- The Bearcats once again traded runs with a 6-0 spurt of their own before Stinson's 10th point of the night stopped the spurt.
- The Hawks answered the response by scoring 10 of the next 12 points, including a 10-0 run to close out the quarter to take a 53-42 lead into the fourth.
FOURTH QUARTER
- A 6-0 start from the Bearcats cut the Hawk lead to five with seven minutes to play. After a pair of free throws from Jill Jekot, back-to-back Cincinnati buckets brought the visitors within two.
- Snead and Knouse anchored the Hawks through the momentum swing, combining for the next 10 points for St. Joe's and connecting on all four field goal attempts in that span to help the Hawks maintain a two-possession lead with three and a half minutes to play.
- A near two-minute drought from Cincinnati ended after a Caliyah DeVillasee and-one cut the score to 65-63 in favor of the hosts, but Snead responded on a wide-open backdoor cut to push the lead back to four.
- Trailing by two with 30 seconds remaining, the Bearcats looked to score quickly to tie the game. DeVillasee drove the length of the court but was contested under the basket as Jekot secured the rebound.
- Rhian Stokes hit the first of two free throws to push the lead to 68-65. Out of the timeout, the sophomore guard picked off a pass and ran the length of the floor before being fouled with seven seconds remaining. Stokes connected on both free throws, sealing a 70-65 win inside Hagan Arena.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Aleah Snead tied for a game-high 19 points, three points shy of a career-high, set last season. The junior finished 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the field and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Nine of her 19 points came in the fourth quarter.
- Emily Knouse had a day to remember early in her career, finishing with 17 points while knocking down 5-of-9 from the 3-point line to shoot a 55.6 percent clip. The rookie's five three-pointers tie for the third most by a freshman, trailing only Angela Zampella (1997-98) and Jen Oyler (2005-06), who each made six in a game. Knouse added five rebounds.
- Gabby Casey scored 10 points, narrowly missing another double-double with nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Casey has secured at least nine rebounds in all three games this season.
- Faith Stinson recorded her second straight game in double figures, scoring 10 points and adding four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
- Saint Joseph's has won its last 22 games in which four Hawks scored in double figures.
- All four of Rhian Stokes' assists came in the fourth quarter as she led the Hawks in that category. The sophomore added three points and a pivotal steal in the fourth quarter, finishing with six points overall.
- Saint Joseph's finished 24-for-50 from the field, shooting at a 48 percent clip. The Hawks made 8-for-23 (34.8%) from distance and finished 14-for-18 (77.8%) from the charity stripe.
- The Hawk defense limited Cincinnati to 16 points below its season average as the Bearcats finished just 24-for-65 (36.9&) from the floor. Cincinnati went 9-for-18 from its free throws, offset slightly by hitting eight of 16 (50%) from beyond the arc.
- The Bearcats outrebounded the Hawks by a 40-30 margin, recording 23 offensive rebounds. Despite the large edge on the offensive glass, Cincinnati was only able to convert for a 14-6 margin in second-chance points.
- The Hawks have now recorded four wins over the Power Four conferences since the 2022-23 season – Vanderbilt (2022-23), Cal (2023-24), Syracuse (2024-25) and Cincinnati (2025-26).
- Saint Joseph's improves to 26-19 all-time against the current iteration of the Big 12 Conference, the win over Cincinnati marking the eighth Big 12 program the Hawks have defeated.
- Head Coach Cindy Griffin recorded her 425th win at St. Joe's.
- SJU improves to 20-1 in the month of November since the start of the 2022-23 season.
UP NEXT
The Hawks close out their two-game homestand against Penn State on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. inside Hagan Arena.
