AMHERST, MA (2/15/04) - Saint Joseph's held a decisive 45-19 advantage on the boards and received strong efforts from seniors Stephanie Graff and Amra Mehmedic in a sloppy 52-40 win over Massachusetts at the Mullins Center. Despite the dominance on the glass, the Hawks couldn't shake the Minutewomen until a 9-2 run late in the game gave SJU a cushion that proved enough to improve to 15-8 overall and 9-3 in the Atlantic 10. Graff had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Mehmedic added 14 points and moved within 34 points of 1,000 for her career. Neither team could get on track early, as Graff and UMass's Edris Bailey scored the only points as the scoreboard read just 6-6 after 10 minutes of play. Graff ended up scoring 10 of the team's first 13 points and finished the half with 12 points. Massachusetts had difficulty getting any offense together and didn't get a field goal from anyone other than Bailey until 4:24 remained before halftime. SJU held a commanding 26-9 lead on the boards and ended the half with 10 assists on 11 first half field goals. The Minutewomen (6-17, 2-10 A-10) cut the deficit to five, at 32-27 at the 15:45 mark of the second half, but it was as close as the hosts would get. SJU scored the next six points, three each from Mehmedic and senior Irina Krasnoshiok, to extend the lead to 11, its largest of the game. UMass made a mini-run to cut the lead to 40-33 with 7:15 to play, however, the Crimson and Gray held off the Minutewomen to secure the season sweep. Senior Erin Brady, despite scoring six points, pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds and dished seven assists. SJU finished the game with 18 assists on 19 field goals and had five players record six or more rebounds. The Hawks, which finally conclude a torrid stretch of five games in nine days, has three days to prepare for A-10 East leader Temple on Thursday. TU downed St. Joe's 62-61 in overtime earlier this season to take the lead in the Eastern Division. The game will be broadcast on WPEN-950 AM and on www.sjuhawks.com with Tom McCarthy and Renie Shields calling the action.