The Chestnut Hill Women's Basketball team jumped out to a double digit lead in the first half against region-ranked Jefferson University and held off a late fourth quarter charge by the Rams to record their first win against the Rams at Sorgenti Arena since 2015,  70-61 Thursday night.

The Griffins, #10 in D2SIDA East region poll, and winners of six straight, improve to 12-3 overall and 6-0 in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference games.  The Rams (#6 in region) fall to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in league play.  Chestnut Hill's six game winning streak equals their longest since the 2017-18 team won six in a row.

Four players reached double figures in the wire-to-wire victory for the Griffins, led by Kaitlyn Carter (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Lauren Crim (Warrington, Pa.) who had 16 points apiece.  Carter, who had made just two three-point field goals all season long, was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and finished the game shooting 5-for-7 while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists.    Crim was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and 6-for-15 overall en route to her 16 points.

Bri Hewlett (North Wales, Pa.) and Emily Chmiel (Doylestown, Pa.) rounded out the Griffins' double figure scorers.  Hewlett scored 14 points, mostly on drives to the basket and also grabbed five rebounds.  Chmiel was 5-for-8 from the field.  Emily Sekerak (New Tripoli, Pa.) came off the bench to lead the team with seven rebounds in just nine minutes played.  Cassie Sebold (Willow Grove, Pa.) led all players with six assists.

Carter set the tone for the game by hitting a three-point basket on the Griffins' first possession on the game to put the Griffins up early.  Chestnut Hill then built a 16-8 lead midway through the quarter with the Rams cutting the lead down to five twice in the period before Crim hit her second three-point basket of the quarter in the final 20 seconds to give the Griffins a 24-16 lead.
Jefferson battled back in the second quarter with Haley Meinel's (11 points) two free throws cutting the Griffin lead to four, 30-26 with 4:09 left.  The Griffins closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run to lead by 13 at the half, 39-26.  Abbey Spratt (Doylestown, Pa.) and Sekerak started the run with layups and Crim finished it off with a three-point basket and a layup in the final minute.

Spratt's three-point basket in the third quarter gave the Griffins their biggest lead of the game at 44-29. Jefferson countered with a 10-2 run to close within eight 47-39 before Carter and Chmiel scored back-to-back layups to put Chestnut Hill back up by double figures 51-39 before closing out the quarter up 11, 52-41.

The Rams opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run to close within five 54-49 with 7:23 left.  Settling down on offense, the Griffins made back-to-back baskets following a Ram turnover and CHC defensive stop to go back up by nine 58-49.  Jefferson's Cassie Murphy (game-high 30 pts.)  followed with her second traditional three-point play of the quarter as the rams again made it a two-possession game 60-54.  Carter followed with her own layup- and-one to push the lead back to nine, 3-54 with 4:58 left.  The Rams cut the lead back to seven twice before a Sebold running one-hander found the bottom of the net to put the Griffins back up by nine 67-58 and Crim added her fourth trey of the game with 32 seconds left to again give the Griffins a double-digit lead, 70-58.  Jefferson's Morgan Robinson (11 points) added a layup-and-one with 28 seconds to round out the scoring.

The Griffins' defense was again a force throughout the game, as the Rams committed 19 turnovers and allowed the Griffins to produce a huge 23-8 advantage in the points off turnovers category.  Carter again was a stalwart on defense, holding one of the Rams' best players, Meinel, to just three field goals. 

Both teams shot nearly identical percentages (CHC 44.6%, JEFF 44.4%) while the Griffins made five more field goals and were a solid 8-for-18 from three-point range (Jefferson was 2-11).  Both teams finished with 34 rebounds.

The Chestnut Hill College Women's Basketball team returns to action next Tuesday, January 18, 2022 when the face the second of three straight region ranked teams, University of the Sciences (currently #1 in the East Region) at Sorgenti Arena.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.