PHILADELPHIA (03/02/02) - A workman-like effort by Saint Joseph's low-post tandem of Susan Moran and Stephanie Graff helped SJU advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament with a 70-48 victory over Fordham at the Liacouras Center. Graff matched a career-high with 25 points, while Moran added 24 for the Hawks, who improved to 22-6 overall. Fordham, coming off an upset of #3 seed Dayton in the tournament's opening round, fell to 6-23. The Rams did a sound job bottling up the Hawks perimeter offense, but were never able to find an answer for the SJU's frontcourt duo, who combined to outscore Fordham 49-48 for the game. Moran and Graff shot 18-28 from the floor, while the remaining seven Hawks that played were 6 of 29. The Crimson and Gray jumped out to an early lead in the ballgame, 14-7. Fordham, however, roared back with an 8-0 run to seize the advantage, 15-14, with 11:00 remaining in the first half. The contest proceeded to bounce back-and-forth over the next three minutes before Moran took the game into her own hands.The Atlantic 10 Player of the Year ripped down a rebound and then went coast-to-coast for layup that ignited the Hawks. Moran scored the game's next seven points, giving the Crimson and Gray a lead (24-17) that it would not surrender. Graff finished with 15 points before intermission, while Moran added 14, and the Hawks led at the break 34-26. SJU was never threatened in the second half. They slowly pushed their lead out to double-digits and then outscored the Rams 20-7 over the final 10:32 to cruise to the 22-point victory, 70-48. Besides their frontcourt edge, SJU also had a sizebale advantage at the line. The nation's top free throw shooting team, the Hawks connected on 20-25 from the stripe, while Fordham was just 1-4. In addition, SJU forced 24 Ram turnovers, but committed a season-low 12. In addition to the offensive punch, Moran anf Graff tied for team rebounding honors with eight apiece. The tandem was supported by a solid effort from sophomore Irina Krasnoshiok, who added seven points and five rebounds. Fellow sophomore Amra Mehmedic and senior Jane Meade added five points each. Fordham was led by Mobolaji Akiode's 10 points and Stacey Price added nine points and nine boards. With the win the Hawks advanced to the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals, where they will meet Xavier on Sunday at 3:00 PM. The Musketeers, the West's #5 seed upset the tournament's #1 overall seed George Washington in the quarterfinals. An Atlantic 10 television broadcast, the game will be televised locally on Comcast SportsNet. SJU lost to Xavier on February 8 in Cincinnati, 75-61. Susan Moran broke the Hawks' career scoring record in that contest.