PHILADELPHIA (02/03/02) - Sparked by the play of its bench, Saint Joseph's (16-4, 7-2 A-10) overcame a 16-point first half deficit to survive a scare from a spirited Fordham team (4-17, 2-8 A-10) at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, 59-54. Senior Susan Moran led the Hawks with 17 points, but junior Colleen McGahan (12 points) and sophomore Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan (11 points) each tallied double figures in relief to spark the SJU comeback. "This is probably the best that Fordham has played all season. you have to give them credit," stated Hawk head coach Cindy Anderson-Griffin. "You have to give our bench some credit, because once again they pulled us out of a hole." Trailing by as many as 16 points in the first half, the Crimson and Gray were staring down the shortend of a 43-29 score with 11:58 to play in the game. At that point, SJU turned up its intensity defensively and began pressuring the ball all over the floor. The defense worked, as it forced Fordham to turn the ball over on multiple possessions. The Hawks' defense then turned to offense, as McGahan and Mohan began to connect from the perimeter. McGahan canned a three-pointer from the right side that started a 16-0 Hawk run over a five minute stretch that turned a 14-point deficit into SJU's first lead, 45-43, with 6:53 remaining. Mohan capped the run by sandwiching a pair of three-point baskets around a layup by sophomore Stephanie Graff. Fordham would briefly regain the lead by converting on its next two possessions, 47-45. McGahan, however, answered for the Hawks with a pair of threes that put the Crimson and Gray on top for good. SJU would then hang on for the final margin of victory. The Rams slowly established a formidible lead in the first half, as the Hawk women struggled from the field. Coming off of a week long layoff since its last game, SJU shot just 17.4% in the first half, connecting on just 4-23 field goal attempts. The largest Fordham lead was 16 points (24-8) with 4:36 left in the first half. "In the first half our shots weren't going in," assessed Anderson-Griffin. "We struggled. We struggled offensively. We weren't getting stops defensively. So everything was compounding." With 17 points, Moran inched closer to Dale Hodges' SJU career scoring record. Moran now has 2,056 points and is just 21 points shy of Hodges mark of 2,077. In addition to Moran, Mohan and McGahan, Graff added 10 points and nine rebounds. Junior Takeya Trayer also gave the team a lift. Playing a career-high 20 minutes she posted career-bests with five points and 6 assists. Mohan's 11 points matched a career-high. "[Mohan and Trayer] had a great week of practice," added Anderson-Griffin. "Those two are the spark that we needed off the bench." FU was led be 12-points each from Lara Hanson and Caitlin Chiaramonte. Kyshawn Ruff had 9 points and 13 rebounds for Fordham. Both teams shot under 40.0% from the floor in the game. SJU has a short turnaround as it prepares to meet Temple in an official Big Five game at the Liacouras Center on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. The team will then hit the road on Thursday for its bi-annual Ohio trip to square-off with Xavier on Friday and Dayton on Sunday.