KINGSTON, RI (2/26/04) - Senior Irina Krasnoshiok scored 23 points and classmate Erin Brady added 20, including the 1,000th of her career as Saint Joseph's held off host Rhode Island, 68-58, in Atlantic 10 Conference play on Thursday. The Hawks opened up an 18-4 lead in the first four minutes and held on to for the victory despite a seven-minute scoring drought in the second half. Krasnoshiok and Brady combined to shoot 15-for-18 on the night as SJU improved to 17-9, 11-4 in the A-10. Playing arguably their best basketball of the season, St. Joe's sprinted to an early lead against the Rams, who started all five seniors on Senior Night. After watching SJU score the first seven points of the game, Rhody (14-12, 7-8) finally got on the board at the 17:03 mark on two free throws by Shayla Johnson. Brady connected on two three-pointers in the next 90 seconds and fellow co-captain Stephanie Graff finished with a layup to give the Hawks an 18-4 advantage at the 14:19 mark, all with Krasnoshiok on the bench. Krasnoshiok made her first field goal on a three-pointer with 11:30 to play before halftime and then scored 15 points over the next eight minutes. The 6-5 center made her first eight field goals in lighting up the Rams for 24 points two weeks ago at the Fieldhouse. Tonight, she made good on her first six shots before she missed. In two games against URI this season, Krasnoshiok has averaged 23.5 points per game on 19-for-24 shooting from the field. Saint Joseph's entered the lockeroom with a comfortable 38-23 lead and extending it to as many as 20 on a Graff layup with 15:46 remaining. It was at that point that Rhode Island began to chip away. A Krasnoshiok layup at the 15:00 mark proved to be the last SJU field goal until she followed with a clutch three-pointer almost exactly eight minutes later. In between, the Rams outscored the Hawks 11-1, despite not scoring themselves for over four minutes. Rhody cut the lead to just five, 57-52, on a Denise King free-throw with 3:14 to play. URI was forced to foul and the Crimson and Gray shot 7-for-9 from the charity stripe down the stretch, including Brady's milestone with 1:06 to go. Brady, the transfer from American, has capitalized on her two seasons on Hawk Hill and now becomes the 18th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point plateau, after scoring 369 points at AU. She joins Krasnoshiok and Graff as the first trio in to reach the milestone in the same season in SJU history. Classmate Amra Mehmedic needs nine points to join the club. Saint Joseph's shot 7-for-13 from behind the arc, thanks in part to a 4-for-4 performance from Krasnoshiok and Brady. Senior Elizabeth "Hootie" Mohan (game-high eight rebounds) and Graff each added seven points for the Hawks. Tanya Rhodes came off the bench to score 17 points to pace Rhode Island and King added 15. The Hawks return home for the regular season finale on Sunday against Fordham at 2 p.m. The six seniors, Brady, Graff, Krasnoshiok, Mehmedic, Mohan, and Esther Hoffer will be honored in Senior Day ceremonies prior to tip-off.