Cassie Sebold scored a season high 22 points as the Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team held off a tenacious Saint Thomas Aquinas College squad to win their third straight game 61-52 Sunday afternoon at Sorgenti Arena in Philadelphia.
 
The Griffins improve to 6-2 with the win.  The Spartans fall to 1-7.
 
Sebold scored 14 of her 22 points (6-12 FG (4 3ptFG), 6-7 FT) in the second half and also finished the game with a team six assists and two steals.  Leah Miller added 14 points (7-12 FG) and 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.  Emily Chmiel led all players with 14 rebounds while scoring six points. Brianna Rider came off the bench to score a career high seven points while Lindsey Lane added a season-high eight rebounds.
 
The Griffins led wire-to-wire as Miller opened up the scoring with a layup and added four more baskets as she and Sebold combined for 18 of Chestnut Hill's 20 first quarter points staking the Griffins  to a 20-9 lead.
 
Kaitlyn Carter opened the second quarter with a three-point shot, giving the Griffins their largest lead of the game at 23-9.  The Spartans battled back, outscoring the Griffins 13-5 the rest of the quarter cutting Chestnut Hill's lead to 28-22 at halftime.
 
The Spartans cut the lead in half 32-29 on a Julia Reggio free throw at the 4:26 mark and still trailed by three 34-31 when the Griffins answered with six straight points, all from Sebold, to go back up by nine 40-31 with 2:22 left. STAC closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the Griffins lead to two 40-38 heading into the final period.
 
Angelique Holquin's free throw to open the fourth quarter pulled the Spartans within one 40-39 before Sebold stopped the run with a three-point basket.  Miller added a layup to give the Griffins a six-point lead 45-39.  Following a STAC made free throw, Rider buried two jump shots and Lane added a basket to increase the Griffins lead to nine 51-42 with 5:26 remaining.  STAC's Alexa Huertas and Rider then exchanged three-point baskets before the Spartans scored four straight to again pull within five 54-49. With under a minute to go the Spartans were forced to foul and the Griffins made seven of eight free throws to close out the game and seal a nine-point win.
 
Huertas led the Spartans with 14 points while Chanel Brodeur-Muir added 12 points and a team high eight rebounds.
 
For the game the Griffins shot 36.1% (22-60) from the field while the Spartans were held to just 28.8% (17-59) shooting from the field.  Chestnut Hill made a season high seven three-point field goals while STAC had five.  The Griffins held a big rebounding advantage, pulling down a season-high 53 rebounds to the Spartans 35. This included 14 offensive rebounds which led to 12 second chance points.
 
The Griffins return to action on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 when the host Kutztown University at Sorgenti Arena.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.