PHILADELPHIA - The Thomas Jefferson University women's basketball team (11-4, 4-2 CACC) suffered a 70-61 setback to city foe Chestnut Hill on Thursday in a battle for first place in the CACC South Division.
 
GAMEPLAY
It was 5-4 in favor of the Griffins early in the first quarter. CHC then increased its lead to eight (14-6) with a 9-2 run. The score was 16-8 before the Rams closed the gap to two (16-14) with six straight points. However, the Griffins came back with eight of the next 10 to take a 24-16 advantage into the second period.
 
The two sides traded buckets through the first five minutes of the second quarter. Chestnut Hill led by eight (30-22) before Jefferson cut the deficit in half (30-26) with 4:09 to go. The Griffins then closed the half with nine unanswered points for their largest lead of the game at that point at 39-26.
 
The Rams tallied the first three points of the third but CHC responded with a layup and three-pointer for a 15-point cushion (44-29). Jefferson narrowed the gap to eight (47-39) with a 10-3 surge. Cassie Murphy netted seven points and Emily Keehfuss hit a three. The Griffins got the margin up to 11 (52-41) entering the final quarter.
 
After a Chestnut Hill layup began the scoring in the fourth, the Rams rallied for eight in a row to get within five (54-49) with 7:23 on the clock. Murphy registered five points and Haley Meinel added a three. However, the Griffins answered with back-to-back jumpers to push the lead to nine and Jefferson only came within six for the rest of the game.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Cassie Murphy: 30 points (career high) on 12-of-22 shooting, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
- Haley Meinel: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
- Morgan Robinson: 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 1 block
- Maeve McCann: 2 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 24-of-54 (44.4%)
3PT: 2-of-11 (18.2%)
FT: 11-of-12 (91.7%)
 
UP NEXT
The Rams finish their three-game road trip on Sunday, January 16 with a 6 p.m. game at Nyack.