The St. Paul and Sacred Heart girls basketball teams took a step up in competition in the NVL on Monday night, and it happened to be against each other at Alumni Hall.
The Falcons got 16 points apiece from Jade Udoh and Janessa Gonzalez, plus 11 more from Olivia Stump (three 3-pointers), on their way to a 48-34 victory over the Hearts. St. Paul improved to 5-2 and handed Sacred Heart, 6-1, its first loss of the season. Udoh was big inside for the Falcons with 13 rebounds, and she added three blocks and four assists.
Above all, it was the St. Paul defense that stood out the most. The Falcons held the Hearts to just five points in the fourth quarter and put the game away. St. Paul did most of its damage in the fourth quarter without Gonzalez, who sat on the bench with four fouls. When Gonzalez re-entered the game at the 3:21 mark, the Falcons held a 41-32 lead.
Udoh made a foul shot six seconds into the fourth quarter to increase St. Paul’s lead to 35-29. Zoey Rubins added a free throw 36 seconds later for a 36-29 advantage, then Udoh made another foul shot at the 6:33 mark to put her team up, 37-29. On the possession before Udoh’s foul shot, Sacred Heart missed a trio of 3-pointers and a layup before fouling Udoh on the rebound. It was that kind of a night for the Hearts.
When Udoh pulled up for a jumper, St. Paul led, 39-29, and Sacred Heart called timeout with 5:17 to play. One more basket, a long two from Stump, made the score 41-29 and concluded a 9-0 run that began with a Liv Heslin layup late in the third quarter. The run finally ended when Sacred Heart’s Mikayla Mobley struck for a three-point play with 4:11 to go.
Sacred Heart senior Aamya Rivera led all scorers with 17 points, despite playing with a banged-up left wrist. Fellow senior Paige Carroll added eight points and the lone 3-pointer in a rough shooting night for the Hearts.
St. Paul and Sacred Heart don’t play again in the regular season, but could meet again in the NVL tournament.
Check out The Hoop Zone for my video highlights and story from the game. Look for follow-up stories to the game on that site as well.
Photo caption: St. Paul’s Janessa Gonzalez goes to the basket while being guarded by Sacred Heart’s Aamya Rivera (0) and Mikayla Mobley (13) during Monday night’s game. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
Gallery
Here are my photos from Monday night’s game.
