PHILADELPHIA - The Thomas Jefferson University women's basketball team (11-3, 4-1 CACC) held #25/12 USciences to its lowest point total in nearly four years in a 52-45 victory at the nationally-ranked Devils on Tuesday evening.
 
GAMEPLAY
The Rams got off to a slow start, missing their first four shots as USciences took a 4-0 lead. With the score 6-2, Maeve McCann made a pair of free throws and sank a three-pointer to put Jefferson in front, 7-6. After the Devils reclaimed the advantage with a jumper, Emily Keehfuss made a layup and McCann hit another shot from beyond the arc to put the Rams ahead, 12-8. USciences came back to even the score at 12 entering the second period.
 
The two squads were tied at 14 in the second when Jefferson caught fire, reeling off six straight points for a 20-14 lead. Haley Meinel delivered four of the six points. Not to be outdone, the Devils rallied for seven in a row to take a one-point advantage (21-20). However, the Rams answered with a 9-0 run to take control, 29-21. Cassie Murphy led the surge with five points. USciences hit a jump shot in the final seconds to make the score 29-23 at halftime.
 
The Devils chipped away at the deficit throughout the third quarter and finally brought it to a 35-35 deadlock with 2:13 on the clock. Jefferson then responded once more, posting seven of the last nine points in the frame to carry a 42-37 lead to the fourth. Meinel poured in five of the seven points for the Rams.
 
USciences closed the gap to two (42-40) with 7:50 remaining in regulation. The teams then went over four minutes without a basket before McCann broke the drought with a bucket at 3:37 to up the Jefferson cushion to four (44-40). After a Devils' turnover, Murphy made two shots at the line to make it 46-40, starting a stretch run in which the Rams went just 6-for-12 at the line but forced USciences to shoot just 2-of-7 from the field as Jefferson pulled away for the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Maeve McCann: 13 points (tied career high), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
- Cassie Murphy: 12 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
- Haley Meinel: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
- Morgan Robinson: 6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 18-of-47 (38.3%)
3PT: 3-of-11 (27.3%)
FT: 13-of-19 (68.4%)
 
NOTES
- The Rams held the Devils to their lowest point total since a 41-32 USciences win versus Goldey-Beacom on February 13, 2018. It was the lowest the Devils have scored in a loss since falling to the Rams on the road, 54-45, on December 1, 2017. USciences last scored 45 points or less in a home defeat versus Kutztown on December 30, 2012 (70-45).
- Jefferson held USciences without a three-pointer, a first for the Devils since December 8, 2012.
- It is the third straight season in which the Rams defeated the Devils while the latter was nationally ranked.
- It was Jefferson's final trip to the Devils' Bobby Morgan Arena. USciences will be absorbed by Saint Joseph's University this summer. The Rams posted a 10-8 all-time record at USciences.
- It was the second time in a span of three days that a Jefferson squad defeated a nationally-ranked team. The Rams' men's basketball team topped #13/10 Dominican on Saturday.
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson continues its three-game road trip on Thursday, January 13 at Chestnut Hill. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.