PHILADELPHIA (1/23/03) - Billed as a battle between the Atlantic 10 Conference's top two women's basketball teams, Saint Joseph's and George Washington took turns taking each others best blows for forty minutes. G.W., however broke a 65-65 tie by outscoring SJU 12-2 over the game's final 2:56 to claim a 77-67 victory at the Fieldhouse. Junior Erin Brady led the Hawks, who slipped to 10-7, 5-1 A-10, with 20 points. The Colonials improved to 11-5 overall, 6-0 in A-10 play. Featuring 11 ties and 13 lead changes each squad took turns countering the other. Foul trouble hindered the Hawks over the final 10 minutes. SJU led by a pair, 51-49, when Stephanie Graff (8 points, 3 rebounds) picked up her fourth foul with 10:29 left to play. G.W. tied the score on the ensuing charity tosses at 51-51, as Graff headed to the bench. The Hawks would not regain the lead again the rest of the way. Twice the Crimson and Gray clawed back to knot the game, the final time coming on a three-point basket by freshman Maura McBryan with 3:10 remaining to make it 65-65. G.W. was back up by a pair when Irina Krasnoshiok (9 points, 10 boards) fouled out of the game with 1:50 to play. G.W., which shot 12-12 from the free throw line in the game, was 6-6 at the stripe in the two minutes to hold off the Hawks. The Colonials held the largest lead of the first half at six, 35-29, and led at intermission 35-31. The Colonials were led by their top guns, All-A-10 picks Cathy Joens (21 points, 5-7 3FG) and Ugo Oha (22 points, 7 rebounds), but it was junior Valerie Williams that hurt SJU down the stretch. Williams, who was a perfect 7-7 from the field in the game, scored scored 10 of her 14 points during the game's final seven minutes. In addition to Brady, McBryan tallied 13 points in her second career start. The remaining SJU starters, Graff, Krasnoshiok and Amra Mehmedic combined for 26 points. SJU returns to the floor on Sunday, January 26 when it takes on Temple at the Liacouras Center. The game will be televised locally on Comcast SportsNet as part of the A-10 Television Network package. Tip-off is noon.