PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The La Salle women's basketball team saw its first lead since the third minute of the game in the third quarter mounting up a three-point edge that it would maintain through the end of the game for the 61-58 victory over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday night.
 
The Explorers improve to 12-8 overall and 3-2 in Atlantic 10 play while the Hawks fall to 14-4 on the season and 4-2 in conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Hawks jumped out to an early seven-point lead when the threes began to fly for La Salle with Molly Masciantonio, Kayla Spruill and Charity Shears all converting from the long range to tie it 9-9 at the 5:45 mark. Saint Joseph's pulled ahead by four answered by Claire Jacobs with a three ball and driving layup to give the Explorers their first lead of the game, 14-13. The Hawks held a 9-2 advantage over La Salle through the rest of the quarter to take a six-point lead into the second quarter.
• Claire Jacobs stepped up from downtown once again to make it a one-point game, 22-21, at the 8:54 mark. After a 90-second scoring drought the Hawks got a chance to extend their lead from the charity stripe starting a 7-0 run through the media for another six-point edge, 29-23. The team remained even at 5-5 thanks to a Mia Jacobs 3-pointer to make it 34-28 St. Joe's to end the half.
• Five unanswered points from Mia Jacobs made it a single-point game, 36-35, just over two minutes into the third frame. The teams traded points over the next three minutes when Spruill connected with Fiona Connolly at the top of the arc to make it a one-point game once again, 43-42. The Hawks sent Connolly to the free throw line to tie it up, 43-43. Claire Jacobs put it up on the next possession to give the Explorers its first lead since the first quarter, 45-43. The Explorers held the 4-3 edge over St. Joe's to take its largest lead of the game, 49-46, into the final quarter.
• Both teams put up a tough fight in final 10 minutes with the Explorers holding the Hawks to just 12 points and 21% shooting to take the 61-58 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• La Salle was led by a team-high 18 points from Claire Jacobs. The senior sunk 7-of-13 from the field while connecting on 2-of-6 from the long range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. She added the second most rebounds with six.
• Mia Jacobs joined her sister as the only other Explorer in double digits with 12 points off 3-of-14 shooting with two buckets coming from beyond the arc and a 4-of-4 performance from the line. Jacobs added a team-high 12 boards for her second double-double of the season.
• Amy Jacobs dished out a team-high five assists followed closely by Masciantonio with four.
• The Explorers held the Hawks to just 33.9% shooting while shooting 36.1%.
• La Salle also held the edge at the charity stripe 90%-72.2%.
• The Blue & Gold had the advantage in both points in the paint (28-26) and second chance points (12-6).

GAME NOTES:

• The Explorers improve to 16-52 in the all-time series and snap a single-game skid with the Hawks. La Salle has now won its last three games when visiting Hagan Arena and is 6-24 overall when visiting the Hawks.
• The three-point win marks the Explorers' smallest margin of victory in the series since winning by a margin of three, 65-62, on Mar. 2, 1996 at a neutral site. It marks its smallest margin of victory in the series history when playing the Hawks on the road.
• The win marks La Salle's third consecutive conference win. The Explorers have not recorded three-straight A-10 wins since its 4-0 run to round out the regular season in 2021-22. The Explorers have not won three-straight this season since its 4-0 run earlier this year defeating Sacred Heart, Niagara, Drexel and Pepperdine.
• Claire Jacobs' 18 points marks her 15^th game in double digits this season. She has reached 10-plus in the last three consecutive contests. Her two made threes move her to third on the all-time record list with 175 3-pointers.
• Mia Jacobs has now hit 10-plus in eight games this season including the last three-straight. This marks the freshman's second double-double making her the first Explorer to record more than one double-double this season. She has now reached double-digit rebounding three times this season also making her the only Explorer with more than two games in double-digit rebounding. Jacobs' 4-of-4 effort from the line marks the seventh time this season she has shot 100% of the line when attempting at least four free throws.
• Masciantonio's assist/turnover ratio of 3.8 ranks second in the nation an first in the conference.
• The victory moves La Salle to the fifth spot on the conference leaderboard trailing behind Rhode Island (6-0), Massachusetts (4-1), Saint Joseph's (4-2) and Fordham (4-2).

UP NEXT:

• La Salle will play its inaugural game against Loyola Chicago in the Windy City this Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. central standard time. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.