Score:  St. Joseph's 66, VCU 63

Location: Richmond, Va. (Stuart C. Siegel Center)

Records: VCU 12-4 (1-2 Atlantic 10), St. Joseph's 8-7 (2-1)

The Short Story: VCU women's hoops were unable to hold on late against the St. Joseph's Hawks as they fell 66-63 on Sunday to drop to 1-2 in the Atlantic 10. Isis Thorpe scored a team-high 16 points and Adaeze Alaeze was a rebound shy of her second double-double of the season.

OPENING TIP

• Thorpe made seven-of-thirteen shots including two big threes late in the game to pull closer towards becoming the program's all-time leader in treys.
• Alaeze finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. The senior has played well through the team's first three conference games.
• Jessica Ogunnorin and Chadarryl Clay each finished with eight points. Ogunnorin grabbed six boards with Clay registering four as well.
• Keira Robinson continued to feed her teammates the ball, handing out a team-leading eight assists.
• Ashley Pegram recorded seven points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Rams trailed at the half for the second-straight game, but after grinding through the third the Rams were able to pull ahead by one. Curteeona Brelove closed the third quarter with a layup to push VCU ahead 44-43 with ten minutes left in regulation.
• The Hawks answered, taking a 5-point advantage to start the fourth quarter. Thorpe's two threes, sandwiched by an Alaeze jumper gave the Rams another late advantage.
• VCU built their own five-point cushion and led by four with under a minute to go, but were unable to hold on late as St. Joe's went ahead on back-to-back three-point plays in the final 45 seconds.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Rams were held to just 30.0 percent (3-of-10) shooting from downtown and struggled to defend the three, allowing St. Joe's to shoot 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from three-point range.
• VCU forced 13 SJU turnovers. The Black & Gold have caused double-digit errors in every game this season and lead the A-10 in turnovers forced, turnover margin and steals.
• VCU scored 12 of their points off of Hawks' mistakes.
• VCU outscored St. Joseph's in the paint 36-20, and the bench chipped in 16 points.

WHAT'S NEXT: VCU is back on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 13 as the Rams continue A10 play at Dayton. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.