PHILADELPHIA (2/22/04) - Saint Joseph's used a 15-0 run late in the first half to break away from visiting St. Bonaventure and earn a 74-54 victory at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on Sunday. The Hawks scored 28 points off 23 SBU turnovers and gained some revenge from a 70-68 loss to the Bonnies three weeks ago. Senior
Stephanie Graff scored a game-high 16 points while classmate
Irina Krasnoshiok added 13 off the bench.
Trailing 21-17 with 7:07 to go, the Hawks (16-9, 10-4 A-10) embarked on an impressive 15-0 run over the next six minutes. Graff scored seven points during the spurt as sophomore backup point guard
Kelly Springman directed the show. Springman scored four points and provided the exclamation point of the run with a driving layup at the 1:36 mark that gave SJU a 32-21 lead.
The Bonnies (8-17, 4-10) drew within nine points early in the second half, but Saint Joseph's put another run together, this time a 12-4 spurt that put the game away. Senior
Erin Brady kicked off the run with a three-pointer and assisted on an Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan layup to finish it.
All 13 Hawks saw action, with 11 finding their way into the scoring column. Brady and freshman
Ayahna Cornish each added nine points. Senior
Amra Mehmedic (five points) moved within 14 points of 1,000 for her career, while Brady needs 20 to reach the milestone.
St. Bonaventure's Steph Merlo paced three Bonnies in double-figures with 12 points, followed by Lyndsey Maurer (11 points) and Caitlin Crist (10 points). SJU held Stefanie Collins, who came into the contest averaging 16.9 points per game, to six.
St. Joe's travels to Rhode Island on Thursday for its final road trip of the season before returning home for "Senior Day" on Sunday, February 29 against Fordham.