The Basics

• Score: Saint Joseph's 63, VCU 46
• Records: VCU (9-5, 0-1), Saint Joseph's (5-8, 1-0)
• Location: Michael J. Hagan Arena – Philadelphia, Pa.
• Short Story: Despite a second half rally, the VCU women's basketball team fell in their conference opener, 63-46, at perennial conference contender Saint Joseph's on Saturday night. Sophomore Isis Thorpe led the Rams with 14 points while Adaeze Alaeze and Ashley Pegram added nine. Monnazjea Finney-Smith led the way with a career-best 11 rebounds.

How It Happened

• Both teams exchanged baskets early with Saint Joseph's holding a small lead. Thorpe hit a 3-pointer and brought the Rams within one, 10-9 with13:52 on the clock. The Hawks responded with a 7-0 run before Alaeze silenced them.   
• VCU battled tough and put together runs to cut the early deficit, but the Hawks continued to maintain their lead.
• In the closing minutes of the first half, the Rams cut SJU's lead to 16 before heading to the locker room.
• Thorpe led the way for VCU in the first half with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
• VCU rallied back in the second half. Back-to-back layups from Camille Calhoun and Finney-Smith put the Rams within ten, 51-41 with nine minutes remaining.
• With three minutes left, Thorpe hit a pair from the charity stripe to bring the Rams within eight, 54-46. However, it wasn't enough as the Hawks maintained their lead to secure a 63-46 win in the conference opener. 

Beyond the Box Score

• Keira Robinson is now 44 assists away from cracking into the top-10 all-time. The sophomore currently has 232 career assists.

Quotable

• "I thought our team came out and played hard. Obviously when St. Joe's comes out and has the half like they did, where they are shooting the ball so well, you really have no room for error. I thought in the second half we made some adjustments, and the team came out and they really played hard and got it to ten. Unfortunately when we got it to ten we just couldn't get over that hump." --Head Coach Beth O'Boyle
• "I think the one thing for us offensively is when we can some clean rebounds, and just move the ball in transition, we get good looks. We talked about passing the ball twice in transition and we will be able to get to the rim. I thought it was really good that we got some good looks in the second half." --Head Coach Beth O'Boyle
• "St. Joe's is a really good team and when they can get those second chance points, it puts a lot of pressure on your offense." --Head Coach Beth O'Boyle

Up Next

• The Rams return home to the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, inside the HDL, Inc. Athletic Village on Thursday (Jan.8) to host Rhode Island. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.