PHILADELPHIA (11/22/03) - Senior Erin Brady led the way with a 15-point, seven-rebound effort and classmate Amra Mehmedic added 12 points, including the 200th three-point field goal of her career, to propel Saint Joseph's to a 62-44 season opening win over city rival Drexel. SJU, which improves to 27-4 in home openers, forced the Dragons into 19 turnovers and held the visitors to just 34% shooting from the floor. The season's first four points came courtesy of the charity stripe from Brady and senior Stephanie Graff, as both teams were cold from the floor in the early going. SJU opened up a 10-5 lead at the 15:16 mark after consecutive layups by Mehmedic and senior Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan. Two free throws by Graff gave SJU its largest lead of the first half at the final media timeout, 26-14. Drexel would score the next five points, bringing the score to 26-19, but it was as close as DU would get for the remainder of the contest. A Brady jumper with four seconds to go sent Cindy Griffin's troops to the locker room leading 28-19. Saint Joseph's capitalized on three straight Dragon turnovers to start the second half to score the stanza's first seven points. Steals by Mohan and senior Irina Krasnoshiok led to layups by Brady and Mehmedic to give the Hawks a 35-19 lead at the 18:16 mark. The Crimson and Gray would continue to stretch the lead throughout the half. Drexel drew within 14 at the 5:42 mark, but SJU closed out the game to improve to 5-0 all-time against its West Philadelphia rivals. Brady shot 6-for-10 and also added four assists on her way to 15 points. Mehmedic became just the fourth player in school history to reach 200 career threes on her trey-ball early in the second half. Graff, already the school's leader in blocked shots, is the first Hawk to reach the century mark with her swat in the final minutes. Griffin received solid contributions up and down the bench, as seven SJU players scored six points or more. Graff added nine points and five boards, while freshman Ayahna Cornish made her debut with a six-point effort. The Crimson and Gray shot 45% from the floor and an impressive 88% from the free throw line. Ola Snystina (12 points) and Catherine Scanlon (11 points, nine rebounds) led the way for Drexel. Saint Joseph's travels to Miami later this week to face-off with Iowa in the FIU/Herald Thanksgiving Classic at Florida International. Tip-off is set for Friday, November 28 at 7 p.m. Photo courtesy of Greg Carroccio, Sideline Photos, LLC. To purchase action photos from today's game, visit Sideline Photos.