VILLANOVA, PA (12/09/03)--Saint Joseph's rallied from eight points down in the final four minutes to cut the Villanova lead to just two with nine seconds left, but the Wildcats held on to a 72-68 Big 5 victory at The Pavilion on Tuesday night. The win clinched at least a share of the City Series title for Nova. Senior Stephanie Graff led the Hawks with 20 points. Trailing 66-58 with 4:29 to go, SJU (3-2, 0-1 Big 5) went on a 6-2 run on free throws by senior Irina Krasnoshiok and layups by Graff and freshman Ayahna Cornish to cut the VU (8-1, 3-0) lead to just 68-64 at the 1:08 mark. Senior Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan then forced a steal and was fouled. Mohan, who had eight points on the night, sank both from the charity stripe to put the scoreboard at 68-66 with 39 seconds remaining. Villanova senior Courtney Mix made a clutch jumper to put the hosts up by four once again, but Hawk senior Erin Brady (15 points) came up big with a coast-to-coast layup to bring SJU within two at 70-68 with nine ticks on the clock. Saint Joseph's was forced to foul and Mix nailed both free throws to seal the win for Nova. The Crimson and Gray played well in the first half on the offensive end of the floor, controlling play until midway through the half. SJU would lead by as many as five and held a 23-22 advantage as late as 7:50 to go in the stanza. On defense, however, St. Joe's couldn't find a way to stop Nova redshirt freshman Liad Suez. The 6-foot-2 small forward created matchup problems for SJU and ended the half with 18 points (7-for-10 FG). Coming out of the locker rooms trailing 38-30, SJU went to work. The Hawks took their last lead of the game at the 14:03 mark on a Brady steal and layup, 46-45, to conclude a 16-7 run. The smaller, but scrappy Mohan kept Suez under wraps, holding her to just 2-for-6 shooting in the half. The Israeli native still managed a career-high 26 points, but the effort of Mohan on the defensive end allowed SJU to get back in the ballgame. Graff was a presence in the post, as the Hawk offense revolved around getting the 6-foot-2 forward the ball in the paint. The southpaw shot 7-for-12 from the floor and went to the line eight times, connecting on six. Statistically, St. Joe's had a strong performance, shooting a season-high 50% from the floor and 81.3% from the charity stripe. Krasnoshiok added 12 points in defeat. Senior Amra Mehmedic connected on one three-pointer to move into a tie for second place with Melissa Coursey '98 on the all-time three-point field goal list. Thanks to Penn's upset win at Temple, Villanova clinched at least a tie for the Big 5 title for the second straight year. Nova wraps up its City Series schedule with the Owls on December 19. Saint Joseph's is off for eight days for final examinations. The Hawks continue their toughest portion of the schedule by hosting ACC-foe Virginia at the Fieldhouse on Thursday, December 18. Following that game, SJU will take on two-time defending national champions Connecticut at The Palestra on Sunday, December 21.