Nov. 29, 2006

Box Score

PRINCETON, NJ - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak as the Hawks downed Princeton, 81-69, at Jadwin Gym Wednesday evening. The Hawks, who got a solid performance from their five starters, were led by senior guard Ayahna Cornish's career-high 28 points.

Saint Joseph's broke out of the gate to a quick lead as it outscored the Tigers 16-4 over 4:10 into the action. Cornish came out on fire, making her first five shots, including three from behind the arc to account for 13 of SJU's first 16 points.

Princeton fought back, and cut the deficit to as few as four, 28-24 with 5:14 remaining in the first stanza on a Whitney Downs layup.

But the Hawks bounced back with seven straight points, and would take a nine-point edge, 40-31, into the locker room.

The second half started very similarly to the first as Saint Joseph's came out strong, opening a 15-advantage, 52-37 on a Whitney Ffrench layup at 16:20.

Trailing by 15, Princeton began to chip away at the Saint Joseph's lead. The Tigers used a 7-0 run midway through the second stanza to cut the gap to four, 61-57.

Both team exchanged baskets, with Princeton coming within one possession, 65-62 on a Casey Lockwood free throw with 5:28 remaining.

Seeing its lead dwindle, Saint Joseph's responded with a 9-2 run, taking a 74-64 lead on an Erica Pollock layup with 2:03 left and never let the Tigers back into the game.

For the game, the Hawks shot a season-high 51.9 percent (27-52) and 38.9 percent from behind the arc (7-18). At the other end, Princeton shot 46.2 percent for the game (46.2 percent) and 4-8 from three-point range. Saint Joseph's held a34-32 edge on the boards and finished 20-30 from the foul line.

Individually, Cornish led SJU with 28 points on 9-16 shooting. Ffrench and junior Timisha Gomez added 17 and 12, respectively, while Jen Oyler chipped in with nine. Pollock, earning her second straight start, added nine points and six rebounds as the Hawk starters accounted for 77 of the team's 81 points.

Princeton was led by Meagan Cowher's 17 points and nine rebounds.

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-3 on the year, while the tigers fall to 2-3.

Saint Joseph's returns to action December 2 and 3 at the Courtyard Classic in Chattanooga, TN.