VCU women’s basketball defeathers Hawks, 59-48

Violet Velasquez, Contributing Writer 

The VCU women’s basketball team defeated the conference No.1 ranked Saint Joseph’s University on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 59-48. The two teams have not matched up since the 2022-23 season. After this victory, the Rams are now 24-4.

This was a night for the books as VCU head coach Beth O’Boyle became the VCU basketball all-time women’s basketball wins leader, according to VCU Athletics.

“There’s so much time, energy and love that goes into each one of those wins,” O’Boyle said.

VCU won the tip-off to start the first quarter, and quickly got to the point, second-year-guard Mary-Anna Asare made a pullup jumper at the 9-minute mark.

The Rams held the Hawks scoreless while gaining another point off of a driving layup by second-year guard Timaya Lewis-Eutsey bringing the score to 4-0. 

At the eight-minute mark, Saint Joseph’s put their first points on the board with a layup by second-year forward Laura Ziegler. 

 It took SJU a few minutes to get into scoring mode, but once they were, they outscored the Rams in the first quarter.

Graduate student guard Chloe Welch made two out of three deep three-pointers in less than one minute, bringing the score to 12-6 in favor of SJU. 

There was a series of missed jumpers and layups on each end of the court making it easy to collect fouls and gain rebounds. VCU and SJU ended the first quarter with 11 boards. 

The score was in favor of Saint Joseph’s, 15-12, to start the second quarter. 

As the second quarter progressed, VCU shots were going in at a high percentage as the quarter progressed. The black and gold ended the half by shooting 56.5% from the field, according to Statbroadcast. 

Fourth-year guard Sarah Te-Biasu sank a step back three-pointer at the 7-minute mark.

Graduate student Mykel Parham played a physical game with no fouls, as she had three rebounds by the halfway mark of the second quarter, according to Statbroadcast.

The Rams utilized a man defense and tried their best to hold off SJU inside the paint but the Hawks were confident at the three-point line shooting 60%, according to Statbroadcast.

Redshirt fourth-year forward Jennifer Ezeh made a hook shot, which helped VCU lessen the lead to 32-23.

As the second quarter came to a close, SJU put its last points up with one second remaining on the clock. This quarter was dominated offensively by the Hawks as they scored 22 points, which was the most they did all quarter. 

The clock began for the third quarter with the score resting at 26-23. After a series of missed shots, Asare went to the line after being fouled and made both free throws at the 9-minute mark. 

Lewis-Eutsey had two steals in one and a half minutes, which motivated the Rams in their offensive output as well.The Rams scored 10 points in five minutes.

The clock read 3:22, and Ezeh was at the foul line. She went two for two, tying the score 38-38. 

As the quarter came to a close, the clock ran slow due to timeouts and fouls. 

Scoring on both ends of the court continued as VCU had trouble getting rebounds under the opponent’s basket. 

O’Boyle said the third quarter was crucial to the team’s success.  

“Those rebounds down the stretch in the third quarter, I think it really changed the tone and we really started to get things going right after that,” O’Boyle said.

As the third quarter came to an end, Te-Biasu found herself at the free throw line, having to break the tie score. She made both free throws, putting the Rams in the lead 42-40. 

This was the first time since the first quarter the Rams were in the lead, according to Statbroadcast. 

SJU scored a layup 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, bringing the score once again to a tie of 42-42. Te-Biasu sank a layup 10 seconds later, upping the Rams lead by two points. 

VCU’s defense was aggressive during the fourth quarter and Saint Joseph’s turned over the ball six times in roughly five minutes, according to Statbroadcast.  

The Hawks scored their last point at the 3:40 mark, bringing the score to 50-48. 

Whereas the Rams played smart, limiting SJU offensively, while simultaneously upping the score late into the fourth quarter. 

Three different VCU players got sent to the line with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Each of them scored one of two free throws, bringing the final score to 59-48. 

The Rams fought until the buzzer called the game and successfully upset the No. 1 ranked team in the Atlantic 10 conference. 

VCU women’s basketball will head to Kingston, RI to face off against the University of Rhode Island Rams at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28.