Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball Holds Off VCU In WNIT Opener, 72-66

PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team held off a late push by VCU to earn a 72-66 victory in the First Round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Thursday evening at Hagan Arena. The Hawks will now travel to Boston College for a 1:30 p.m. tip with the Eagles on Saturday.

Following a first half that saw neither team lead by more than four points, the Hawks used momentum from the end of the first stanza to open a nine-point gap quickly. Saint Joseph's used a 9-0 run that spanned both halves to break a 27-27 tie and give SJU a 36-27 lead on a pair of free throws by junior Michelle Baker at the 18:38 mark.

The Hawks (20-11) kept the Rams at a distance, opening a 14-point lead, 51-37, on a three pointer by senior Dominique Bryant with 12:01 to go.

Down 62-52 with under five minutes to play, VCU fought back to make it a 62-58 game on a jumper by Courtney Hurt at the 2:54 mark.

Both team exchanged baskets over the next two minutes, giving Saint Joseph's a 66-62 edge with under a minute to go. With the shot clock winding down, Baker drew single coverage and buried a jumper from the foul line with :36 seconds left to up SJU's lead to 68-62.

Another jumper by Hurt and a pair of free throws from SJU freshman Erin Sheilds made it a 70-64 game with :18 seconds left. Defensively, Saint Joseph's was able to force the Rams to use up time before getting a layup with :07 seconds to go to cut it to a 70-66 game.

However, Shields converted a pair of free throws to preserve the win and give the Hawks their 20^th win of the year and Saint Joseph's first postseason win in Hagan Arena.

For the game, the Hawks shot 51 percent (26-of-51), but hit just 3-of-13 from behind the arc (23.1 percent). Saint Joseph's was steady at the line, hitting 17-of-21 (81.8 percent) and turned the ball over just 13 times.

Individually, Baker paced SJU with 19 points and a career-high eight assists. Shields finished with 11 points, while juniors Samira Van Grinsven and Kelly Cavallo added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

At the other end, VCU shot 43.1 percent from the floor (25-of-58), hit 3-of-10 from three-point range and converted 13-of-17 from the foul line (76.5 percent). The Rams out rebounded the Hawks 37-25, including 18 offensive rebounds, but turned the ball over 18 times. Hurt, who entered the game leading the nation in rebounding (12.6 rpg) and double-doubles (25), scored a game-high 26 points, but grabbed just eight rebounds as VCU ends it season with a 19-12 mark.