PHILADELPHIA (2/16/003) - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team (14-9, 9-3 A-10) backed into the Atlantic 10's Eastern Division title, despite Fordham (13-12, 4-8 A-10) stunning the Hawks at the Fieldhouse, 57-53. One of the Atlantic 10 Conference's most improved teams, the Rams used a huge disparity on points off turnovers (25-8) to snap a 13-game winning streak by SJU in the series. Junior Amra Mehmedic matched a career-high with 20 points for St. Joe's in a losing effort. Irina Krasnoshiok added 10 points and Stephanie Graff had eight points and 10 rebounds. Senior Mobolaji Akiode had 24 points to pace Fordham. The game's tone was set early, as SJU struggled offensively, committing 15 first half turnovers. Fordham, meanwhile capitalized on the Hawk miscues, outscoring the Crimson and Gray 21-4 off turnovers in the opening half. The early disparity allowed Fordham to build up a 12-point advantage in the first stanza. They led by three at intermission, 32-29. The second half was more evenly played, but SJU struggled to get anything going on the offensive end of the floor. The Crimson and Gray crept within a bucket on two occasions early in t he second half, but Fordham responded and maintained a four to seven-point buffer through most of the period. Down six, 55-49, with 1:30 left, SJU got it down to a one possession game on back-to-back buckets by Elizabeth Mohan and Erin Brady. A steal by Mohan then gave SJU a chance to play for either the tie or a win with :15 seconds left. The Hawks called a play, but the sequence broke down as Brady penetrated to the basket. She then handed the ball off to Graff, who tossed up a wild hook shot in the paint that missed the mark. The ball was then batted out of the scrum in the post to midcourt. Akiode won a foot race to the loose ball and drove the length of the court for a layup as time expired to ice the game. St. Joe's shot just 36.4% for the game, 31% in the second half. Fordham never trailed in the game. Despite the loss, SJU still backed into the the A-10 Eastern Division title thanks to a 69-57 loss by Massachusetts against Richmond in Amherst. The Hawks have a four game lead over second place Temple and five game lead over the Minutewomen with just four regular season league games remaining. SJU swept the Owls this season giving them the tiebreaker over TU. The A-10 East title assures SJU the top seed in the League's postseason tournament. The Hawks will have a chance to avenge the loss next Saturday in the Bronx. Before that, SJU will host Massachusetts on Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 PM.