Dec. 11, 2005

Box Score

VILLANOVA, PA - The Villanova Wildcats jumped out to a 7-0 lead and shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first half as they handed Saint Joseph's women's basketball team its first loss of the season, 64-55 Sunday afternoon at the Pavilion.

Villanova held the Hawks scoreless over the opening three minutes as the Wildcats built a 7-0 edge on a three-point play by Kate Dessart Mager at 16:56.

Following a 5-0 Saint Joseph's run, the Wildcats responded with a 15-4 run from 15:33 to 9:46 as they extended their lead to 22-9.

The Hawks scored the next four points to come within nine, 22-13, on a jump shot by sophomore center Erica Pollock 8:37.

Over the final eight minutes, Villanova outscored Saint Joseph's 12-7 to take a 34-20 edge into the second stanza as the Wildcats finished the first half 13-of-24 from the field (54.2 percent) and 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Following two quick Villanova baskets, the Hawks scored six straight points to cut the deficit to 10, 36-26, on a layup by junior guard Ayahna Cornish at 17:36.

Leading by 10, 39-29, Villanova used a 15-3 run from 13:51 to 9:02 to extend its lead to 54-32.

Trailing 61-40 with just over five minutes remaining, Saint Joseph's strung together a 15-3 run to finish the game, but unfortunately came up short in the end.

"Villanova did a great job today," said Saint Joseph's head coach Cindy Griffin. "They made their shots early and we never established ourselves inside."

"Unfortunately we didn't play as good as we can," said senior forward Faith Schutte. " Every game so far this season we had a great start, but today we just didn't bring it."

For the game, the Hawks shot 43.1 percent from the field (22-of-51) and 11of-15 (73.3 percent) from the line. At the other end, the Wildcats finished 19-of-45 from the floor (42.2 percent) and 21-of-27 (77.8 percent) from the foul line, with 17 coming in the second half.

Individually, Schutte paced the Hawks with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Cornish was the only other Saint Joseph's player to score in double figures with 16 points.

Dessart Mager led the Wildcats with a game-high 20 points, while Liad Suez-Karni added 15 points.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 7-1 on the season and 1-1 in Big 5 play. Villanova improves to 6-2 overall with the win and 2-0 in the Big 5. The loss also snaps Saint Joseph's second best start in program history.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Wednesday, December 21 at Hartford. Game time is set for 5 p.m.