St. Joe’s gets it done down the stretch to beat La Salle, 69-65

St. Joseph’s built a 10-point lead with under six minutes to play in the fourth quarter against La Salle on Wednesday night at John E. Glaser Arena and nearly held control until the final buzzer.

Then, the Hawks’ offense went silent and La Salle began to mount a comeback in the waning minutes. An and-one layup plus a pair of free throws from Explorers guard Aryss Macktoon made it a four-point game with less than two minutes remaining.

But, St. Joe’s (14-6, 5-4 Atlantic-10) warded off a La Salle (11-10, 4-6) comeback to earn a 69-65 victory. The Hawks outscored the Explorers 26-3 in bench points and shot 44.8% from the field.

“I think what you saw was a game of runs,” said St. Joe’s head coach Cindy Griffin. “There was a lot of great offense out there. Not a whole lot of defense at times. But I was really pleased with how we came out in the second half, especially in the third quarter. We got a little space and we were able to make plays down the stretch.”

St. Joe’s had a balanced scoring effort with seven players scoring at least seven points. Guard Gabby Casey led the way with 14 points, with 10 coming in the second half. Emily Knouse added 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting in three-pointers. Forward Cecilia Kay had a team-high seven rebounds.

La Salle was led by guard Joan Quinn, who made 4 of 7 three pointers to go along with a game-high 18 points. Forward Kiara Williams contributed 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and six rebounds. Macktoon, the Explorers’ leading scorer, was well guarded, but managed 11 points and seven rebounds.

Following Macktoon’s and-one layup to cut St. Joe’s lead to four points, the Hawks were in desperate need of a basket to stunt the Explorers’ momentum. They turned to a player who was quiet offensively all game.

Forward Faith Stinson did not score for the first 38 minutes, but found her first basket when it mattered most. She got free on a cut and guard Rhian Stokes, who finished with 11 points, delivered a perfect pass that Stinson converted to halt La Salle’s run.

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The basket gave St. Joe’s some breathing room to come away with the win.

“You saw a senior post who had been there, done that,” Griffin said. “She came up big in the first game (against La Salle), and at the end of the day, we went to her, we found her. Rhian found her in the first game and I think that kind of sealed the game and it was just the same situation today.”

St. Joe’s and La Salle were evenly matched through the first 20 minutes as neither built a lead larger than seven points. Bother offenses came alive in the second quarter.

The Hawks started the quarter hot and built a 24-17 lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Knouse, a freshman. However, the Explorers did not stay down long, thanks to forward Kiara Williams. She made two straight jumpers to cap an 11-2 run, which gave La Salle a two-point lead. The teams traded baskets to enter halftime tied at 32.

St. Joe’s jumped out to a 38-34 lead to open the third frame and never allowed La Salle to retake the lead. The Hawks answered every Explorer run with a basket, eventually opening up a nine-point lead midway through the period. That lead ballooned to 10 halfway through the fourth quarter, and despite La Salle making it close in the final minutes, the Hawks’ strong second half helped them prevail.

“I think we came out and it didn’t really go our way, but then we showed up in the second half with our grit, our toughness and staying composed and staying together to really come out and take a force in the first three minutes of the second half,” Casey said. “I think that was just really great, and that gave us momentum throughout the game.”

St. Joe’s returns home to take on Davidson (15-7, 7-2) on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN+), while La Salle will travel to face Duquesne (7-14, 0-10) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).