St. Joe’s women’s basketball snapped their six game losing streak in a 52-49 win over Yale University, thanks to Alayna Gribble’s game-winning corner three.
The biggest takeaway from the game was the performance of first-year Laila Fair and the clutch shooting from graduate student Alanya Gribble.
St. Joe’s struck first as Head Coach Cindy Griffin elected for a new lineup to start the game, which included first-year Laila Fair drawing her first collegiate start. Fair, coming off a career-high 12 points against Old Dominion, got the Hawks rolling after scoring the first 6 points of the game in the paint. Each of the six baskets were impressive post-up shots over the Yale defenders that got the Hawks bench off their feet.
This trend would continue as Fair finished with another 12 points, tying that career high. Fair also followed up on the defensive end, recording a stellar block to stop an inside shot attempt in the second quarter and finishing with one steal and six rebounds.
The first-half defensive effort from the Hawks was by far their best performance this season. The 7 points scored by Yale in the first quarter was the lowest allowed by St. Joe’s so far this season and the 18 allowed by the end of the half was a season best as well.
However, Yale began to fight back as they cut the lead to 3 at the end of the third quarter due to the Bulldogs half-court press. The press put the Hawks in an offensive slump in the 3rd, only scoring 5 points to Yale’s 19 and St. Joe’s would finish the game with 16 turnovers.
In the 4th, Yale tied the game around the 8 minute mark and the game would remain tied until Yale ended the scoring drought, sinking 2 free throws to take the lead in the 4th minute. From there, the game continued to be back and forth, until graduate student Katie Jekot passed to Gribble in the corner with 2.4 seconds to where she drilled the corner three to seal the win. Gribble finished with a game high 14 points and went 4-9 from distance.
Coach Griffin said the win was huge for the team’s morale.
“To have the confidence to close this game, knowing that we can if we do the little things right, is a big confidence booster,” Coach Griffin said. “I see us building from this and being ready against Penn.”
The win over Yale brings St. Joe’s to a 2-6 record for the season. The team looks to thrive off the momentum of this win when they travel to University of Pennsylvania in a Big 5 matchup on Dec. 7.
This article was first published by the Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec. 5 as part of the Inquirer’s college correspondent program.
