Women's Basketball Falls to East Texas Baptist on Thursday Night

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team dropped an 83–53 non-conference decision to East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) on Thursday night inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium. With the result, the Blue Jays fall to 2–10 overall, while the Tigers improve to 13–4 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

ETBU jumped out to an early 7–2 lead, but a quick 4–0 USJ spurt—featuring baskets from sophomore guard Ella Kulas (Cheshire, Conn.) and junior forward Kiatyanna Denmark (New Britain, Conn.)—cut the deficit to one, 7–6, at the 5:15 mark. The Tigers responded with a 13–0 run to open up a 20–6 advantage. Junior forward Gjamory'a McTier (Palmer, Mass.) halted the run with back-to-back layups to close the quarter, as ETBU carried a 20–10 lead into the second.

After a back-and-forth start to the second quarter, sophomore guard Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (Andover, Conn.) drained her first three-pointer of the night to bring USJ within striking distance, 28–17, with 6:36 remaining. ETBU continued to control the game, however, closing the half on a 16–5 run to take a 44–22 lead into the break.

The Tigers maintained their momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Blue Jays, 18–12, to extend the margin to 62–34. USJ continued to battle in the fourth, as sophomore guard Trinity Cruz (Windsor Locks, Conn.) knocked down a pair of three-pointers to pace the team with seven points in the frame, but the deficit proved too much to overcome as ETBU secured the 83–53 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Turcotte Briggs led the Blue Jays with 14 points.

• Denmark paced USJ with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

• ETBU outshot USJ, 47.8 percent (33-of-69) to 38.0 percent (19-of-50).

• The Tigers capitalized on their size advantage, scoring 56 points in the paint.

• ETBU also won the rebounding battle, 42–27.

• USJ committed 28 turnovers, which led to 35 ETBU points.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on the road at Elms College on Saturday, January 10, inside Picknelly Arena in Chicopee, Mass. Tip-off against the Blazers is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

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