ST. LOUIS – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter to secure its fourth consecutive victory, defeating Saint Louis 65–54 Saturday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
Six lead changes highlighted a tightly contested opening quarter as neither team built more than a three-point edge.
Kaylie Griffin's wing triple gave Saint Joseph's (19-8, 10-6 A-10) a 14-13 lead with 56 seconds remaining, but a three-point play from Saint Louis sent the Billikens into the second quarter ahead 16–14.
Aleah Snead and
Rhian Stokes combined for the first five points of the second quarter before
Gabby Casey capped a 10-2 run with a tough three-point play through contact. The Hawks maintained control for much of the period, though a late 7–2 Saint Louis (11-18, 5-11 A-10) surge trimmed the halftime margin to 26-25.
Casey opened the third with a three-pointer before Saint Louis answered on its first possession. From there, Saint Joseph's delivered the decisive stretch, holding the Billikens scoreless for nearly seven minutes while mounting a 15-0 run to extend the lead to 44-27. Snead and Stokes combined for 10 points during the burst as the Hawks carried a 48-31 advantage into the fourth.
Saint Joseph's pushed the margin to as many as 23 points in the final quarter, with Casey and Snead combining for 12 of the Hawks' 17 fourth-quarter points. A 7-0 spurt by the duo created a 62-39 lead with just over three minutes remaining before the Hawks closed out the 65-54 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Aleah Snead led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting while adding seven assists and five rebounds.
- Gabby Casey finished with 16 points alongside three assists, three rebounds and three steals.
- Kaylinn Bethea matched her career high with nine points and added three rebounds.
- Jill Jekot and Rhian Stokes each recorded three steals; Stokes also tallied four assists while Jekot grabbed five rebounds.
- Saint Joseph's shot 53.2% (25-for-47) from the field and 38.9% (7-for-18) from three.
- The Hawks assisted on 18 of 25 made field goals (72%).
- Saint Louis shot 28.8% (17-for-59) overall and 12.5% (2-for-16) from beyond the arc while converting 18-of-21 free throws (85.7%).
- The Billikens held a 39-30 rebounding advantage, including 19-5 on the offensive glass, but only led second-chance points 9-6.
- Saint Joseph's led for 33:09 of game time.
- The Hawks improved to 15-0 when leading at halftime and 18-0 when holding a lead with five minutes remaining.
- The four-game win streak marks the team's longest stretch in conference play this season.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's concludes its road swing with a matchup against George Mason on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
