PHILADELPHIA – The #8/10 ranked Thomas Jefferson University women's basketball team (11-1) were up one point heading into the break, but show their offensive prowess in the third quarter with 20 points as the Rams began to pull away and took a 71-52 non-conference win over St. Thomas Aquinas College (7-6) in Thursday afternoon competition.
 
WHAT HAPPENED
Both teams were even to begin the first quarter, with the game tied at 13-13. Haley Meinel and Morgan Robinson scored the first points for the Rams, but the Spartans had Aneglique Holguin earn a layup and one of her two free throws to have it at 4-3. Cassie Murphy made two free throws and a layup after to push it to 8-5 with 4:38 in the first. Sam Yencha scored the first of her team leading 17 points on the day with an and-one conversion to push the Ram lead. Sarah Ericson made her layup while Delaney Finnegan and Bailey Chapman made threes near the end to even the game out at 13-13 heading into the second quarter.
 
Trinity Cheatom would score seven points early on for St. Thomas Aquinas, making two free throws, a three-pointer, and a layup to keep the Spartans in the game and ahead of Jefferson 20-19. Both teams would trade the lead, with Emily Keehfuss making her free throws while Holguin making a basket. After a Yencha jumper, Cheatom made her second three in the quarter. Emily Strunk would hit a layup to push the Spartans lead to 27-23. Keehfuss would hit her own three and a pair of Yencha scores would push the Rams up 30-29 with 2:02 to go before halftime. Strunk would make her basket for the Spartans, but Kaya Burkhart would convert on her layup to get the Rams ahead 32-21 as they finished the first half.
 
Jefferson would open the third with eight straight points as two Meinel layups and a jumper from Yencha and Murphy pushed the Rams lead up 40-31. Murphy would have another shot go in the basket, but St. Thomas Aquinas would get a three from Watrobski and a layup by Strunk to get within six points. Jefferson would go on a 10-2 run with Emma Kuczynski and Meinel hit three-pointers to finish the third with a 52-38 lead over the Spartans.
 
The Rams would outscore the Spartans in the fourth 19-14. Yencha hit a jumper to being the quarter while Murphy made both free throws and a layup to push them ahead 58-43. Erin Leary would hit two shots to get close, but a Robinson jumper and Meinel shot from beyond the arc helped drive the momentum to the end of the game, eventually having the Rams leave the Gallagher Center with a 71-52 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Sam Yencha: 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Haley Meinel: 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting (2-3 3PT), 4 steals, 2 blocks
Cassie Murphy: 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, 4-4 FT, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks
Morgan Robinson: 8 points on 4-of-12 shooting, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson will make a quick turnaround as they welcome Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) opponent Dominican University of New York to the Gallagher Center on Saturday, January 6 at 12 p.m.