Dec. 28, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Posting its best offensive output of the season, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped Northeastern, 83-59, in the opening game of the 16th Annual Hawk Classic Thursday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Hawks opened the game with a 9-2 run and never looked back. SJU sophomore Jen Oyler capped the run with a three pointer at the 17:31 mark.

Following a short run by the Huskies, which saw them trim the deficit to 9-7, Saint Joseph's responded with a 12-2 run of its own, taking a 12-point lead on a three-point play by junior guard Timisha Gomez at the 11:50 mark.

Saint Joseph's would extend its lead 15 three times, including a 41-26 lead that it took into halftime. The Hawks finished 15-of-31 from the field in the opening period, while they held Northeastern to just 10-of-34 shooting (29.4 percent).

In the second stanza, the Hawks continued their hot shooting by scoring the first five points to extend its lead to 19, 46-27, on an Oyler three pointer with 18:18 remaining.

Leading 66-46 with 8:54 left, Saint Joseph's ended any chance of a Husky comeback with a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to open its biggest lead of the game, 78-48.

For the game, the Hawks finished 32-of-63 from the floor (50.8 percent), 12-of-27 from three-point range (44.4 percent), but just 7-of-15 from the foul line (46.7 percent). At the other end, Northeastern went 21-of-59 from the floor (35.6 percent), 5-of-12 from behind the arc (41.7 percent) and 12-of-18 from the foul line (66.7 percent).

As a team, Saint Joseph's outrebounded the Huskies 42-33 and posted a season-high 25 assists. Individually, Oyler led the way with 18 points, while senior center Erica Pollock added a season-high 17 points to go with six rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Ayahna Cornish chipped in with 11 points and five assists, while Gomez added 10 points and three assists.

Northeastern's Lucia Pablos finished with a game-high 21 points, while Ashlee Feldman added 17 in the loss.

With the victory, the Hawks improve to 6-5 on the season, while the Huskies fall to 1-10.

In the nightcap, Jessica Dickson paced South Florida (10-2) with 26 points as the Bulls beat Vermont (8-3) 77-62.

Despite the final outcome, the game was tight throughout. Despite trailing 11-2 early, Vermont fought back in the first half and held a 31-26 edge at the 7:04 mark.

The Bulls gathered themselves and outscored the Catamounts 16-9 to close the half and take a 42-40 lead into the second stanza.

In the second half, South Florida opened a 52-42 gap at the 15:26 mark, only to have Vermont rally to within 58-56 with 8:52 remaining.

From there though, the Bulls pulled away, outscoring the Catamounts 19-6 to close the contest and earn the victory.

Saint Joseph's will face the winner of South Florida for the Hawk Classic title tomorrow at 4 p.m., while Northeastern and Vermont will tip off at 2 p.m. in the consolation game.

**** Photos from today's game availavble at www.sidephotos.com