WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team broke into the win column Monday night, leading wire-to-wire in a non-conference home victory against Anna Maria College (AMC), 71-54, inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays move to 1–7 on the season, while the AMCATS fell to 2-5 overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USJ jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, using an opening spurt fueled by five points from sophomore guard Trinity Cruz (Windsor Locks, Conn.), to hold the edge after the first five minutes of play. AMC fought back though, utilizing a 7-3 stretch of their own to close the gap to 10-7, with 3:40 left in the quarter. Sophomore guard Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (Andover, Conn.) quickly fired back, knocking down her first triple of the night, sending the Blue Jays into the second frame with a 13-7 advantage.

The Blue Jays carried the momentum into the second, as freshman forward Reagan Heafey-De Angelis (South Windsor, Conn.) scored five points during another 7-0 opening stretch, forcing the AMCATS to call a timeout trailing 20-7 at the 8:03 mark. USJ continued to pull away as a sophomore guard Ella Kulas (Cheshire, Conn.) layup with 4:31 on the cloc increased the gap to 26-9. The two sides traded baskets to close the half, as a late Kulas layup established a 31-15 USJ edge entering the halftime break.

AMC began to mount a comeback attempt to start the third, closing the deficit to ten, 35-25, causing USJ to call a timeout with 6:14 on the clock. AMC would pull within single-digits, 35-28, but a Turcotte Briggs three-pointer followed by a pair of free throws from junior forward Gjamory'a McTier (Palmer, Mass.), reestablished the double-digit lead, 40-28, at the 3:01 mark. The Blue Jays continued to light it up from beyond the arc, as Turcotte Briggs knocked down another three, followed by a buzzer beating triple from Hafey-De Angleis, increasing the USJ advantage to 49-31 heading into the fourth.

USJ continued to dominate in the fourth quarter, as McTier converted on a layup to give the Blue Jays their biggest lead of the night, 60-37, with 4:50 left to play. The AMCATS continued to press the Blue Jays late, but the home team iced the vistors out at the free throw line to secure the victory, 71-54.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Turcotte Biggs paced the offense with 15 points.

• Kulas, Cruz and Heafey De-Angelis joined her in double-figures, scoring 14, 14 and 12 points, respectively.

• Sophomore guard Nevaeh Yorke (Norwich, Conn.) hauled in a game and career-high 14 rebounds, while dishing out a team-best six assists.

• USJ outshot AMC, 44.9 percent (22-of-49) to 33.9 percent (19-of-56).

• The Blue Jays were lights out from beyond the arc, shooting a 53.8 percent clip (7-of-13) from three.

• USJ won the battle of the boards, outrebounding AMC, 35–32.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays take a three-week hiatus, returning to the court on Tuesday, December 30 on the road at Baruch College. Opening tipoff against the Bearcats inside ARC Arena in New York, N.Y., is set for noon.

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