Basketball Pushes JWU in Defeat

WEST HARTFORD – The University of Saint Joseph basketball team put up a spirited effort before coming up short in a 78-64 loss to Johnson & Wales Saturday in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference game.

Johnson & Wales improved to 14-1 overall and leads the GNAC at 4-0. USJ dropped to 1-13 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

Kayla Guest (Newington, Conn.) led the Blue Jays with 16 points and also had seven rebounds. Stephanie DeJesus (Meriden, Conn.) and Carlee Putnam (Niantic, Conn.) scored 15 points apiece. Elisha Pertillar (Windsor, Conn.) scored nine points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for USJ.

JWU led 26-19 after one quarter, 47-36 at halftime and 62-48 through three. USJ gamely stayed close despite JWU having advantages in rebounds (50-33), second-chance points (14-5) and points off turnovers (24-5).

Ashley Thompson (Bellingham, Mass.) had 20 points and eight rebounds for Johnson & Wales and Bobbie Whitehead (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Jordan Neylon (Penacook, N.H.)

USJ next plays at Simmons, Monday, Jan. 18 in a GNAC game at Simmons.