PHILADELPHIA – A fourth-quarter rally introduced the Saint Joseph’s ladies’s basketball crew inside six, however Penn State held off the comeback effort because the Hawks dropped an 89–77 determination Sunday afternoon at Hagan Arena.
FIRST QUARTER
Saint Joseph’s opened the scoring instantly as Jill Jekot managed the tip and transformed a fast-break layup. Gabby Casey and Aleah Snead adopted with a fast 5-0 burst to offer the Hawks a 9-3 lead simply over two minutes in.
Snead and Casey knocked down back-to-back threes to stretch the benefit to eight, however a 5-0 Penn State run trimmed the margin to 15-12 on the media timeout.
St. Joe’s responded with a 7-2 surge to push the result in 22-14 earlier than the Nittany Lions closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, slicing the Hawk benefit to 22-20.
SECOND QUARTER
Penn State carried its momentum into the second body, scoring the primary 10 factors to gasoline a 15-0 run and power a Saint Joseph’s timeout.
Consecutive threes prolonged the Nittany Lion run to 21-0 earlier than Casey’s free throws lastly halted the stretch. The factors sparked a 12-5 response for the Hawks, pulling inside 40-34 earlier than Penn State shortly pushed the margin again to double digits.
St. Joe’s closed sturdy, hitting three threes over the ultimate 2:27 and utilizing an 11-2 run to drag inside 47-45 at halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
Penn State opened the half on one other run, this time an 11-1 burst to reestablish a double-digit lead.
A 3 from Kaylie Griffin steadied the Hawks, who answered with a 7-2 stretch and traded baskets the remainder of the best way as Penn State carried a 68-58 lead into the fourth.
FOURTH QUARTER
Penn State outscored the Hawks 7-0 to begin the interval, constructing its largest lead at 17.
Saint Joseph’s battled again with an 8-0 run and later reduce the margin to 6 with 3:13 remaining.
The Nittany Lions held off the late push to safe the 89-77 win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Gabby Casey paced the Hawks with a career-high 24 factors, going 6-for-10 from three to set a brand new private greatest. She added 4 assists and three rebounds.
Her six threes marked simply the second time since 2019-20 {that a} Hawk hit at the very least six in a sport, becoming a member of Mackenzie Smith’s efficiency towards Maine on Dec. 9, 2024.
Aleah Snead completed simply shy of her profession excessive with 21 factors on 8-for-14 capturing. She tallied a career-best 4 threes, together with six rebounds, 4 assists and two steals.
Saint Joseph’s had a number of 20-point scorers for the primary time since Nov. 22, 2024.
Faith Stinson added 10 factors because the third Hawk in double figures.
Cecilia Kay chipped in eight factors, whereas Griffin tied for the crew lead with 4 assists.
The Hawks shot 25-for-71 from the ground and set a program document with 39 three-point makes an attempt, making 15 (38.5%). They additionally went 12-for-14 (85.7%) from the road.
Penn State shot 57.4% (35-for-61), marking the ninth-highest opponent field-goal share towards SJU since 1982-83. The Nittany Lions additionally hit 70.6% from three—the third-highest opponent mark and the most effective by any opponent with at the very least 10 makes an attempt.
Four Penn State gamers scored in double figures, led by Gracie Merkle’s 25 factors and 11 rebounds. Tea Cleante added 23 factors whereas capturing 9-for-11 from the ground and 5-for-6 from deep.
Penn State improved to 24-9 all-time towards Saint Joseph’s.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph’s heads to New York for a midweek matchup at Columbia on Thursday, Nov. 20. Tipoff is ready for 11 a.m.