Nov. 20, 2005
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA -
For the first time since the 2001-02 season, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team downed a nationally ranked opponent as two free throws in the final seconds by junior guard Whitney Ffrench lifted the Hawks past #23/25 North Carolina State 54-52 Sunday at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.
Trailing by one, 52-51, with four seconds remaining, Saint Joseph's freshman guard Jen Oyler fouled North Carolina State's Khadijah Whittington, sending Whittington to the foul line for a one-and-one.
With her team clinging to a one-point lead, Whittington missed the front end of the one-and-one as the ball hit the front portion of the rim and bounced to the left side. Ffrench gathered the loose ball and was fouled by Ashley Key as she drove up the court.
With only two seconds remaining, Ffrench knocked down the first of two free throws to tie the game at 52 apiece. Following a North Carolina State timeout, Ffrench calmly made the second free throw to give the Hawks a 53-52 lead.
On the ensuing inbounds, North Carolina State attempted a long-distance pass, but the ball bounced harmlessly out of bounds, giving Saint Joseph's control of the ball. On the inbounds, Saint Joseph's junior guard Ayahna Cornish was fouled immediately and made one of two free throws.
Leading by two, 54-52, with 1.3 seconds remaining, Ffrench intercepted the inbounds pass and dribbled out the clock for the victory.
"I'm extremely proud of our club and the hard effort they put forth today," said Saint Joseph's head coach Cindy Griffin. "It shows the hard work and dedication that this team put in both in the summer and the preseason. It was a great team win."
In the first stanza, the Hawks quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but saw it quickly erased as North Carolina State used a 10-4 run to take a 10-8 lead on a layup by Tiffany Stansbury at 11:41.
Both teams battled closely over the remainder of the period as the Wolfpack's opened its biggest lead, 17-14, at 7:18.
Saint Joseph's headed into the lockerroom up one, 21-20, as the Hawks regained the lead with a pair of Ffrench free throws at 1:11.
The #23/25 ranked Wolfpack came out of halftime energized and quickly regained the lead. North Carolina State used a 17-7 run to open the second half as Keisha Brown capped the run with a layup at 12:02 as the Wolfpack led 37-28.
Trailing by 11, 43-31, Saint Joseph's mounted its comeback. Using a 12-2 run, the Hawks came within two, 45-43 on a layup by senior forward Faith Schutte at 5:18.
The Wolkfpack's Ashley Key extended her team's lead to 48-43, but two quick jump shots by Schutte and sophomore guard Timisha Gomez brought the Hawks within one, 48-47, with 4:03 remaining.
North Carolina State extended its lead to three twice more, but jump shots by freshman center Hillary Klimowicz and Cornish kept the Hawks within one.
Down one, 52-51, Saint Joseph's controlled the basketball with 17 seconds remaining. On the ensuing play Whittington stole the ball for the Wolfpack in the far right corner. With just over five seconds remaining, the Hawks fouled three times, forcing the one-and-one and setting up Ffrench's game-winning free throws.
For the game, the Hawks shot 36 percent from the floor (18-of-50) and 28.6 percent from behind the arc (4-of-14). North Carolina State finished 19-of-57 from the floor for the game (33.3percent) and 4-of-21 from three-point range (19 percent). The big difference in the game came at the foul line where the Hawks went 14-of-20 for 70 percent, while the Wolfpack shot 52.6 percent (10-of-19).
Individually, Schutte poured both a career and game-high 16 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. For the second straight game, Ffrench tallied in double figures for the Hawks, scoring 11 point on 2-of-5 shooting and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Ffrench also added a team-high four assists, while Schutte added a team-best three steals.
In only her second collegiate game, Oyler finished with nine points, while Cornish added seven. Klimowicz, in her first collegiate start, added six points and four rebounds, while Gomez added five points,
At the other end, Key paced North Carolina State with 11 points, while Whittington and Stansbury added 10 points apiece.
With the victory, the Hawks improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Wolfpack falls to 1-1. The win also marks the first time Saint Joseph's has beaten North Carolina State as the Wolfpack had won the previous four meetings. The Hawks' victory also snapped an 11-game losing skid to nationally ranked opponents with their last victory coming November 18, 2001 at home versus Rutgers (64-58).
Saint Joseph's will return to action next Sunday, November 27, as it opens the road portion of its schedule at Bucknell. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
**Photographs of today's game, as well as past Hawk games can be viewed at www.sidephotos.com.
