The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team went back to the fundamentals taking good shots and taking care of the ball as they snapped their losing streak with an 88-77 win over Saint Thomas Aquinas College Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Hall in Sparkill, New York.
The Griffins improve to 2-5 with the win while the Spartans fall to 1-4.
Chestnut Hill shot 50% for the game (34-68) and turned the ball over just 11 times en route to scoring a season high 88 points.
Three Griffins reached double figures with Bridie McCann leading the way with 19 (8-14 FG, 3-6 3FG). Avery White added 18 (5-13 FG, 7-8 FT) while Caleigh Edwards came off the bench to turn in the best shooting effort by a Griffins player, making six of ten shots (5-7 3FG) and scoring 18 points in 18 minutes of playing time.
Bri Rider led the Griffins with eight rebounds while Kaya Mobley added seven. Mobley and White had four assists apiece while White also added a game high four steals.
The Griffins also appeared to put aside their fourth quarter struggles as well, outscoring the Spartans 25-16 in the period while committing just one turnover.
Chestnut Hill opened the fourth quarter with nine straight points to push their lead to double digits, 72-61. Baskets from Tiayo Adelekan (9 points) and Annie Jackson started things off. Edwards followed with the first of her three three-point baskets in the period and White completed the run with a layup at the 7:03 mark.
The Griffins defense held the Spartans without a field goal until the 5:43 mark when a jumper from Bailey Chapman (14 points) cut the Griffins lead to eight. Edwards almost immediately pushed the back to 11 with another three-ball before the Spartans used an 8-2 run over the next 3:05 to close within five 78-73. Edwards made her final three-point basket and the Griffins final field goal of the game with 1:42 left, pushing the lead back to eight. Chestnut Hill made seven of ten free throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the 11-point win.
The Spartans and the Griffins traded mini-runs in the first quarter with neither team leading by more than five with STAC holding a 24-20 lead after ten minutes of action.
Three lead changes highlighted the first five minutes of the second quarter with the Spartans holding a 34-31 lead. The Griffins followed with a 9-0 uprising to lead 40-34 with 2:15 left. Angel Sanders started the run with a short jumper and Mobley finished it with a pair of fastbreak layups. Chapman's three-ball with 46 seconds left cut the margin to two before McCann countered with a three-pointer of her own to give CHC a 45-40 lead at the half.
STAC whittled the lead down to two by the end of the third quarter 63-61 before the Griffins started their run to begin the final period and put the game firmly in their grasp.
Casey Mahaney and Syrita Faraj led the Spartans with 18 points apiece. Faraj also had eight rebounds.
The women's basketball team returns to action on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, when they travel to face the University of the district of Columbia. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
