HENRICO, Va. – The No. 5 seed Saint Joseph's women's basketball team used a dominant third quarter to pull away from No. 12 Duquesne, earning a 66-45 victory in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Henrico Sports & Events Center.
Saint Joseph's (20-10, 10-8 A-10) caught fire early, shooting over 50 percent in the opening quarter and knocking down five 3-pointers. An 8-0 run capped by five straight points from
Aleah Snead gave the Hawks a quick 18-5 lead midway through the period.
Jill Jekot added her second 3-pointer of the quarter to push the margin further before baskets from
Gabby Casey and
Rhian Stokes helped the Hawks take a 25-14 lead after one.
The teams traded baskets throughout most of the second quarter as the Hawks maintained a lead between 10 and 12 points. Duquesne (12-19, 4-14 A-10) closed the half on a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 34-28 at the break.
Saint Joseph's took control coming out of halftime. The Hawks held the Dukes scoreless for the first 4:43 of the third quarter and used a 9-0 run from four different scorers to extend their advantage to 15. After Duquesne ended the drought with a 3-pointer, Jekot responded with a triple before Casey added another basket. A jumper from
Cecilia Kay and Casey's third 3-pointer pushed the Hawks' lead to 53-35 entering the final period.
Duquesne opened the fourth with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 15, but it was the closest the Dukes would get.
Faith Stinson and Stokes quickly combined for four points before three late 3-pointers from
Emily Knouse (two) and
Kaylie Griffin stretched the lead to as many as 23. Duquesne managed just one field goal over the final six minutes as the Hawks secured the 66-45 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Gabby Casey led Saint Joseph's with 16 points, adding three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
- Aleah Snead and Faith Stinson each scored 10 points; Snead also posted six rebounds and six assists.
- Jill Jekot finished with nine points on three 3-pointers and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, falling one point shy of a double-double.
- Emily Knouse and Cecilia Kay each scored six points off the bench, while Kay added team highs with three blocks and two steals.
- Saint Joseph's shot 25-for-62 (40.3%) from the field and 10-for-23 (43.5%) from 3-point range while assisting on 18 of its 25 made field goals
- The Hawks also held a 38–33 rebounding advantage.
- Duquesne shot 16-for-52 (30.8%) and just 3-for-20 (15.0%) from beyond the arc. Alexis Bordas led the Dukes with 13 points.
- Saint Joseph's improved to 52-14 all-time against Duquesne and 3-1 in postseason meetings.
- The Hawks reached 20 wins for the fourth consecutive season and the 11th time under head coach Cindy Griffin.
- SJU is now 16-0 when leading at halftime and 19-0 when leading in the final five minutes this season.
- The Hawks' 212 made 3-pointers rank second-most in program history, trailing only last season's 231.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's advances to the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals and will face No. 4 Davidson on Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Henrico Sports & Events Center. The game will stream on the USA app.
