PHILADELPHIA (02/17/02) - Sparked by 13 points and five assists from senior
Jane Meade and 14 points by sophomore
Irina Krasnoshiok, the Saint Joseph's University women's basketball team (19-6, 10-4 A-10) won its third straight game, defeating Massachusetts (8-17, 6-8 A-10) at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, 73-50. Senior
Susan Moran added 21 points and 10 rebounds for her tenth double-double of the year.
The game started slowly as both teams struggled to get on track offensively. The contest was knotted on three occasions and was even-up at 6-6 with nearly eight minutes gone in the first half. A 15-2 Hawk run over the next six minutes, however, broke the game open and put SJU up by 14 points, 24-10.
Fifteen UMass' turnovers in the period helped the Hawks maintain their double figure advantage throughout the remainder of the half. SJU led at intermission, 30-20.
The Minutewomen would get no closer in the second half and the game's final score, 73-50 (23 points), was the widest margin of the contest. The Hawks outscored the Minutewomen 43-30 in the second half.
Moran, who was a perfect 11-11 at the stripe, led all scorers with 21. Meade and Krasnoshiok combined for 17 second half points. UMass was led by Jennifer Butler and Nekole Smith with 10 points apiece. Butler also corralled 13 rebounds.
The Hawks held a slight edge in field goal percentage, shooting 45.1% from the floor to just 37.5% by UMass. The game, however, was won at the line, where SJU connected on 22-25 free throws, while the Minutewomen were only 5-10. SJU improved to 16-2 with the starting linup of Moran, Meade, senior
Amy Snell and sophomores
Stephanie Graff and
Amra Mehmedic.
SJU concludes the home portion of the regular season schedule on Friday night against La Salle. The Hawks will honor Moran, Meade and Snell as well as
Colleen McGahan and manager Molly Reilly prior to the game. Tip-off is 7:00 PM.