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St. Joe’s women end losing streak by beating Yale

Freshman Laila Fair gave the Hawks a boost with 12 points in her first career start.

St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin
St. Joseph's coach Cindy GriffinRead more

St. Joseph’s snapped its six-game losing streak in women’s basketball Saturday with a 52-49 win over Yale, thanks to Alayna Gribble’s game-winning corner three-pointer.

The biggest takeaway from the game was the performance of freshman Laila Fair and the clutch shooting from graduate student Gribble.

St. Joe’s struck first as Coach Cindy Griffin elected for a new lineup to start the game, which included Fair drawing her first collegiate start. Fair, coming off a career-high 12 points against Old Dominion, got the Hawks rolling after scoring the first six points of the game in the paint.

This trend would continue as Fair finished with 12 points again. Fair also followed up on the defensive end, recording a stellar block to stop an inside shot in the second quarter and finishing with one steal and six rebounds.

The first-half defensive effort from the Hawks was by far their best performance this season. The seven points scored by Yale in the first quarter was the lowest allowed by St. Joe’s so far this season and the 18 allowed by the end of the half was a season best as well.

However, Yale began to fight back as it cut the lead to three at the end of the third quarter thanks to a half-court press. St. Joe’s finished the game with 16 turnovers.

Yale took the lead as the teams engaged in a back-and-forth fourth quarter, but graduate student Katie Jekot passed to Gribble in the corner with 2.4 seconds left. She drilled the three-pointer to seal the win. Gribble finished with a game-high 14 points and went 4-for-9 from distance.

Coach Griffin said the win was huge for the team’s morale.

“To have the confidence to close this game, knowing that we can if we do the little things right, is a big confidence booster,” she said. “I see us building from this and being ready against Penn.”

St. Joe’s (2-6) will play the Quakers in a Big 5 matchup Tuesday at the Palestra.