PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team used a balanced scoring effort and dominant bench production to complete a season sweep of La Salle, earning a 69-65 Atlantic 10 road victory on Wednesday evening inside John E. Glaser Arena.
 
Saint Joseph's opened the scoring through Gabby Casey to take an early lead, but a 5-0 spurt from La Salle pushed the hosts in front. The Hawks reclaimed the advantage in the final seconds of the opening quarter as a corner three from Kaylinn Bethea gave SJU a 16-14 edge after 10 minutes.
 
Emily Knouse scored the first eight points of the second quarter for the Hawks, helping spark an 8-3 run to extend the lead to 24-17. La Salle responded with an 11-2 run to regain control before Aleah Snead halted the momentum with a three from the top of the key. Rhian Stokes followed with a three of her own in the final minute to send the teams into halftime tied at 32-32.
 
Saint Joseph's opened the third quarter with four quick points from Casey and used a 9-5 start to regain control. Moments later, Casey capped a 7-0 run to push the Hawks ahead 48-39 with 2:53 remaining in the frame. Aryss Macktoon scored four points late in the quarter to trim the La Salle deficit to six heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
The Explorers scored on their first three possessions of the fourth quarter to cut the margin to three, but the Hawks answered each time, rebuilding the lead to as many as nine with 4:59 remaining. La Salle made one final push behind five quick points from Macktoon, but baskets from Faith Stinson and Stokes sealed the victory as Saint Joseph's secured the 69-65 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Three Hawks finished in double figures, led by reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Gabby Casey with 14 points and four rebounds.
• Rhian Stokes added 11 points and three assists, while Emily Knouse led the bench with 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range and added three assists.
• Aleah Snead finished one point shy of double figures with nine points.
• Kaylinn Bethea scored eight points to go along with four steals and three rebounds.
• Seven Hawks scored at least seven points as Saint Joseph's finished 26-for-58 (44.8%) from the field and 9-for-21 (42.9%) from three-point range.
• The Hawk bench outscored La Salle, 26-3.
• Saint Joseph's has now won six straight games against La Salle, moving to 57-16 all-time against the Explorers. Head coach Cindy Griffin has now collected 33 wins against La Salle, the most against a single opponent in her 25-year tenure.
• Coach Griffin has now collected 220 Atlantic 10 wins, tying for second-most in conference history. Griffin is 20 wins shy of tying Joe McKeown's record of 240 wins.

 
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's returns to Hagan Arena on Sunday, February 1, hosting Davidson in a 1 p.m. Atlantic 10 matchup on ESPN+