Dec. 2, 2006

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, TN - In an up-and-down game that saw the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team trail by as many as 10 and lead by 11, the Hawks hung on to their late lead as they downed Chattanooga, 65-61, in the opening day of action of the Courtyard Classic at the McKenzie Arena.

Saint Joseph's, which trailed 38-31 at the half, put together a solid second half and quickly took the lead back from the Lady Mocs. The Hawks scored the opening nine points, six coming from senior guard Ayahna Cornish, and took a 40-32 edge at 16:21.

Despite letting Chattanooga regain the lead, 44-40, Saint Joseph's didn't panic. Instead, it's defense stiffened and SJU's offense took over as the Hawks went on a 15-0 run from 13:18 to 7:48, opening a 55-44 advantage.

But just as soon as Saint Joseph's had opened up its biggest lead, the Lady Mocs recovered with a 15-5 run of their own. Shanara Hollinquest brought Chattanooga within one, 60-59, on a layup with 2:58 remaining.

Following an exchange of baskets and stops, the Hawks had possession with 45 seconds remaining. Up one, senior guard Whitney Ffrench made a layin and was fouled to put SJU ahead 64-61 with 38 seconds left. On the ensuing free throw, Ffrench missed, but a long rebound came to the Hawks' senior Zoya Pavlovskaya, who got it back to Ffrench.

Saint Joseph's would run the shot clock down and regained possession with 5.7 seconds left after an offensive rebound was blocked out of bounds by Chattanooga. Cornish was fouled on the inbound, but missed the front of a one-and-one, allowing the Lady Mocs one last chance.

Following a timeout, Chattanooga attempted a "hail mary" pass, but it was too long as sophomore Jen Oyler grabbed the loose ball for the Hawks and calmly made one of two foul shots to ice the game.

In the first half, the teams started out slow, trading the lead seven times. Leading 18-17, Chattanooga used a 13-4 run to open a 31-21 gap with 2:39 remaining in the first half.

The deficit remained the same with 10 seconds remaining, but the Hawks' freshman Amy Gillespie nailed a three pointer with seven seconds to go, cutting the halftime deficit to 38-31.

For the game, Saint Joseph's finished 24-of-52 from the field (46.2 percent), 5-of-15 from three-point range (33.3 percent) and 12-of-18 from the foul line (66.7 percent). At the other end, Chattanooga went 19-of-52 from the field (36.5 percent), but shot just 7-of-24 in the second half (29.2 percent). The Lady Mocs out rebounded the Hawks 39-30, but turned the ball over 15 times, compared to SJU's 10.

Individually, Cornish posted her second-straight 20-point game, scoring 25 points to go with three assists, two blocks and four steals. Ffrench also finished in double-digits with 18 points, to go with a game-high five assist. Sophomore Jen Oyler added six points and three blocks, as junior Timisha Gomez and senior Erica Pollock added five and two, respectively. Off the bench, Gillespie, and sophomores Jenna Loschiavo and Mary Kate McDade each added three points.

At the other end, Hollinquest led the Lady Mocs with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Alex Anderson added 12 points.

With the victory, the Hawks improve to 3-3 on the year, while Chattanooga falls to 3-4.

Saint Joseph's will face Western Carolina at 1 p.m. tomorrow and with a victory, and Eastern Kentucky loss, can claim the Courtyard Classic title.