Both the Chestnut Hill College Griffins and the Lady Rams of Jefferson University were riding win streaks when they converged on the court at CHC last Saturday afternoon.

Like Jefferson, Chestnut Hill is a member of the South Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Griffins opened the month of February with a loss to Felician University (Rutherford, N.J.) of the North Division.

After that they put together three straight victories, including very significant ones over South Division leader Holy Family University (at the time ranked 20th in the country in NCAA Division II) and the top team in the North Division, Dominican University (Orangeburg, N.Y.). More recently, CHC knocked off CACC South's Goldey Beacom University (Wilmington, Del.), 80-70, in a road game last Tuesday.

Jefferson, the defending conference champion, arrived at CHC last Saturday hoping to extend an eight-game roll. Back in the second game of this streak, the Lady Rams had won their first meeting with CHC, 70-55. Since then, the Griffins had earned increased respect when first-year coach Megan Fox directed them to their decisive 68-47 road win over Holy Family on February 5.

Last weekend Chestnut Hill held a one-point edge after the first 10 minutes, and Jefferson was up by a point at halftime, 23-22.

CHC trailed by four points late in the third quarter, then in a 10-2 run that spanned the third and fourth periods, the Lady Rams went up 50-38. The Griffins couldn't get closer than nine points the rest of the way, and the visitors won, 62-49.

It was the 899th victory in the storied career of Jefferson head coach Tom Shirley, and it raised the Lady Rams' record to 12-2 in conference play and 18-6 overall. Since the third game of the season, Jefferson has been playing without senior forward Sam Yencha, the 2024 CACC Player of the Year. She hopes to return to action this week after suffering a stress fracture in one of her hips.

CHC slipped to 10-4, 14-12 on Saturday, but the Griffins had already clinched a three seed for the conference tournament.

Two field goals each by senior post player Cassie Murphy and sophomore point guard Tori Nigro got Jefferson out to an 8-0 start in last weekend's contest. Four-and-a-half minutes in, CHC got on the board with a short jumper by junior guard Sara Tamoun.

Tamoun dropped in a three-pointer from the left wing later on, but with a minute left in the opening quarter the home team trailed, 10-7. A transition basket by senior guard Bri Rider and then a lay-up by freshman forward Tiayo Adelekan in the last 10 seconds moved the Griffins ahead, 11-10.

CHC junior point guard Avery White deposited a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, but Jefferson's Murphy made two shorter field goals and went three-for-three at the foul line. Murphy led all scorers at the half with 11 points, and the visiting Lady Rams enjoyed a 23-22 edge.

As in the team's first meeting, Murphy would emerge as the game's high scorer, netting 20 points this time to go with her 23 back on January 22. On defense last Saturday, the Lady Rams were able to contain CHC's leading scorer, sophomore shooting guard Bridie McCann, holding her to four points.

Coming out of the intermission, three different Lady Rams powered a 7-0 Jefferson run. However, the visitors then committed two fouls against CHC's Adelekan, who rang up four points from the stripe. Next, CHC's McCann and senior post Emily Sekerak exchanged baskets with Jefferson's Nigro and sophomore guard Emily Spratt.

More than halfway through the third period, the Lady Rams had a modest 34-30 lead, and as the teams continued to trade field goals, the tally reached 40-36 for the start of the final minute of the quarter. What wasn't a good sign for the Griffins was they kept having to play catch-up after their guests went on little runs.

Two late field goals by Nigro put Jefferson up 44-36 heading into the final stanza. CHC's Sekerak struck from the paint at the start of the fourth quarter, but back-to-back buckets by Murphy and a lay-up by freshman forward Gabby Recinto had the teams 12 points apart, at 50-38.

A "three" by Chestnut Hill's White was matched by Jefferson senior guard Emma Kuczynski, then two shots from shorter range by Spratt opened up a 16-point gap (57-41) with three minutes left to play.

Over the next 90 seconds or so the Lady Rams only added a lone free throw by Nigro, while the Griffins' Tamoun made two successful drives, Adelekan scored from the paint, and freshman guard Tiki Miller hit two free throws. This got Chestnut Hill back within single digits of the leaders, 58-49.

The Griffins were unable to score after that, though, and while Jefferson missed two free throws just ahead of the final minute, they had Recinto and Murphy each produce two points from the foul line in the last 47 seconds. It would be a 13-point verdict for the Lady Rams.

Following Murphy on the winners' scoresheet were Recinto, with 12 points, and Nigro and Kuczynski, with 11 apiece. Murphy and Recinto pulled down 13 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Adelekan, the freshman, led the Griffins with 10 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. White led everyone in assists, with five, and she and Tamoun each recorded nine points.

The team totals in rebounds, turnovers, and assists weren't so different, but the overall field goal shooting percentage for Jefferson was 37.7, while it was 27.5 for CHC.