With four games left in the regular season, St. Joe’s women’s basketball is focused on getting back to the Atlantic 10 Championship. Sophomore guard Jill Jekot said the team is looking forward to the tournament.
“It’s an exciting time of year,” Jekot said. “I think it’s really important that our team stays composed, and I think with our leadership, we’ll be just fine doing that.”
The team is currently fourth in the A-10 standings. After losing to George Mason in the A-10 championship last year, junior guard Gabby Casey is focused on securing a top four seed and clinching a double-bye, which would guarantee the team a spot in the quarterfinals.
“Me and [junior guard Aleah Snead] have had a lot of experience, which is nice, and we can relay that information to the team and just bring that to practice and push everyone harder because we know how hard A-10 play is,” Casey said.
After dropping back-to-back games against University of Rhode Island and the University of Dayton, the team got back in the win column with a 70-63 victory over George Washington University Feb. 11 followed by a 63-50 win against Loyola Chicago Feb. 14. Head coach Cindy Griffin ’91, MBA ’93, called the game a “must win” and said the team is focusing on playing a “full game.”
“It just can’t be 30 minutes or 35 minutes,” Griffin said. “It’s got to be a complete game. This time of the year, it’s just those teams that stay focused and continue to work hard within the framework of what we’re trying to do and continue to share the ball and continue to play with and for each other. I just think it’s really important.”
The Hawks are rounding out their regular season with a home game against Richmond Feb. 28. This will be their first time seeing Richmond in the 2025-26 season, and Griffin said the experience the team had beating the Spiders in the semifinals last year is motivation to head into the A-10 tournament with a win.
“Especially the returners, that fuels them, because we want to get back to that stage and see if we can win the championship,” Griffin said.
Jekot said the team is going into the rest of the season with an “aggressive mindset” and sticking to their core values.
“Selfless, relentless,” Jekot said. “We say that every day. It’s posted on our walls. We just remind ourselves, if we feel like we have a breaking point at some point in the game or we’re spiraling a little bit, we remind ourselves of that, and that brings us back up.”
