Women's Hoops Cruises Past Mitchell, 77-38, Wednesday Night

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's basketball team won their 20th consecutive game inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium, taking down Mitchell College (Mitchell), 77-38, Wednesday night during Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays moved to 12-6 on the season and 7-1 in GNAC play, while the Mariners moved to 2-11 overall and 0-7 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Blue Jays dominated from the opening tip, holding the Mariners scoreless for the opening seven minutes of the first quarter, breaking open a 16-0 lead, paced by 14 points from graduate student forward Jordan Ouellette (Bristol, Conn.).
• Mitchell would break their deadlock at the three-minute mark, but senior guard Maya Slisz (New Britain, Conn.) sunk a pair of late free throws to give USJ an 18-2 lead entering the second quarter.
• USJ continued to dominate, as graduate student guard Taylor Verboven (Columbia, Conn.) and graduate student forward Maci Dorantes (Bristol, Conn.) both found the bottom of the net, increasing the gap to 24-2 a the 8:17 mark.
• The Blue Jays pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring Mitchell 17-10 the rest of the way, holding a 41-12 lead at the halftime break.
• USJ increased the lead to 31 early in the third quarter, as Dorantes sunk an easy layup at the 7:25 mark, establishing a 45-14 edge.
• The Blue Jays extended the gap to 40, as senior forward Janai Oliver (Hartford, Conn.) and freshman guard Ella Kulas (Cheshire, Conn.) knocked down back-to-back layups to have USJ hold a 57-17 lead at the 2:53 mark.
• Kulas would sink another layup, while freshman guard Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (Andover, Conn.) drained a three-pointer, sending USJ into the fourth quarter with a 63-20 advantage.
• Mitchell would outscore the Blue Jays 18-14 in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too much for the Mariners to overcome, as USJ secured the 77-38 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Ouellette paced the team with a game-high 20 points off 9-of-11 shooting.
• Verboven joined her in double figures, scoring 10 points.
• Kulas dropped a career-high nine points.
• Ouellette also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.
• Verboven dished out a team-best four assists.
• USJ outshot Mitchell 57.1% (32-of-56) to 21.7% (13-of-60).
• The Blue Jays also outrebounded the Mariners, 45-29.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays take a quick step out of GNAC play, hosting Williams College for the team's non-conference finale on Sunday, February 2. Tipoff against the Ephs inside James. A Calhoun Gymnasium is set for 1:00 p.m.

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