PHILADELPHIA (1/19/03) - Trailing by 10 at halftime, and as many as 13 in the second half, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team (10-6, 5-0 A-10, 3-1 Big 5) mounted a furious comeback and then survived two grueling overtime sessions to defeat La Salle (10-6, 2-3 A-10, 1-2 Big 5) in a Big Five thriller at the Gola Arena, 83-80. Junior Stephanie Graff, who played all 50 minutes, topped all scorers and paced five Hawks in double figures with 24 points. SJU notched its sixth straight win overall, including its third straight when trailing at intermission. "We found a way in the second half to win. Our defense became our offense," said Hawk head coach Cindy Griffin. "This team came together. It really did." SJU trailed, 52-39, with 14:45 in regulation, before storming back with a help of a frantic press that perplexed La Salle. Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan, who didn't start for the first time all season, scored seven of her career-high 13 points during a 20-2 Hawk run over the next five minutes that helped the Hawks turn a 13-point deficit into a five-point lead, 59-54. Besides Mohan, junior Amra Mehmedic canned a pair of three-point baskets during the spurt, including a triple at the 10:41 mark to give SJU its first lead. SJU maintained the lead, until La Salle's Davineia Payne made a layup with 1:57 remaining. The Hawks were back on top by a deuce, 70-68, after freshman Maura McBryan connected on a driving layup and junior Erin Brady slpit a pair of charity tosses. Payne, however, connected on a short jumper in the lane with :30 seconds left to knot the contest at 70-70. The Crimson and Gray held for the final shot, but Brady's driving layup was short at time expired. Both teams struggled during the overtime periods. In the first session, the two teams exchanged four free throws apiece and then Payne and Graff traded layups. La Salle then had a chance for the last shot in the first extra session, but they could not get off a shot attempts and the game went to a second overtime tied at 76-76. In the second overtime, SJU got a pair of free throws from Mohan and then two from McBryan to go up by four, 80-76. The Explorers trimmed it to two on a layup with less than a minute to go. Mohan then connected on a driving layup with :28 seconds remaining to keep the margin at four. La Salle then had several shots that fell short of the mark during the waning seconds, until Monica Garrido Sanz connected with just :02 seconds to play. Brady then split a pair of free throws with :01 second to play to ice the game and give SJU the win, 83-80. In addition to Graff and Mohan, Mehmedic tallied 15, McBryan, who made her first career start, had 13 and Brady added 12 and dished 11 assists. La Salle also had five players in double figures, including 17 from Marano, 15 by Garrido Sanz, 14 from Kat Foley, 12 by Payne and 11 from Shaune McLaughlin. La Salle led for most of the first half and used a 12-2 run late in the opening stanza to turn a one-point game, into a 11-point advantage, 38-27 with 2:10 remaining. The Explorers led at the break, 43-33. The Hawks withstood a week during which they played four games in eight days. SJU is now off until Thursday, when A-10 west rival George Washington makes its lone visit to the Fieldhouse.