PHILADELPHIA, PA. 12/27/2018 – Post season tournament time, the lessons learned during the summer, fall, and regular season come into focus. The Saint Joseph’s Hawks earned the 6th seed in the Atlantic 10 and the ability to host a first round game. The VCU Rams, the 11th seed came to Hawk Hill. For someone it is on to Richmond.
That will be the Hawks defeated VCU 72 – 63 at the Hagan Arena. Saint Joe’s senior forward Chelsea Woods had a career night as she scored 33 points and set another personal best with 12 made field goals. Woods also tied her career-high with 9 made free throws. She also pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds.
Woods, a Philadelphia native, set her previous career-mark in scoring in their previous game at Fordham. She is feeling confident getting the ball down low.
“It has a lot to do with my teammates,” said Woods. “Them getting the ball to me and trusting that I can score it. It is practicing over and over again, and perfecting it when games come.”
“Chelsea has been playing well for us lately,” said Saint Joseph’s Coach Cindy Griffin. “Anytime we can get her touches, we would like to do that in the flow of offense. She is a tough match up for people. We like to get her the ball and her teammates help do that.”
It was a tough game, and a long game as there were 42 fouls called. A choppy pace with not much flow. Saint Joe’s was able to sustain their lead from the charity stripe as they made 26 of 29. Guard Alyssa Monaghan scored all of her 12 points on foul shots. The school record for being perfect from the line belongs to Mary Sue Garrity who made 16 against Cheyney State in 1976. Monaghan tied Angela Zampella in the second spot. Zampella made 12 in a 2001 contest against Duquesne.
In the fourth quarter Woods made a layup at the 8:08 mark. The Hawks would not score another basket until Woods converted with 1:32 to play. SJU scored 27 fourth quarter points, and 16 of those were free throws.
Sarah Veilleux added 14 points for Saint Joe’s. Taya Robinson led VCU with 18 points, and Nyra Williams counted 13. Philadelphian and Baldwin School graduate Danielle Hammond scored 7 points.
Now it is ‘On to Richmond’ for Saint Joseph’s who will meet Fordham in the quarterfinal round. The team mindset is ‘another game.
“We will play a team we played four days ago,” Griffin said about meeting Fordham. “That is a familiar opponent and everyone on our side of the bracket are familiar opponents, teams we’ve had success with, and we would like to continue to do that. We will be prepared and ready to go.”
“We’ve gone farther each year, and this year we want to keep on climbing,” Woods said.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Be the first to comment