Dec. 8, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Trailing by as many as 16 points, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team never gave up against Boston College. The Hawks persistence paid off, as they came from behind to top Boston College, 58-54, Friday evening at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

After a cold first half, in which Saint Joseph's shot just 29 percent (9-of-31) and trailed 36-25, the Hawks began to chip away at the opposing Eagles.

Down 47-37 with 11:42 remaining, Saint Joseph's began building momentum. After cutting the score to 47-41, Saint Joseph's sophomore guard Jenna Loschiavo buried back-to-back three pointers, the final tying the game at 47 with 9:01 remaining.

The Hawks would take their first lead of the game nearly four minutes later, 49-47, on a layin by sophomore guard Mary Kate McDade at 5:16.

Boston College remained composed, and after a 6-3 run, clung to a 53-52 lead on a Kathrin Ress layup with 1:08 left.

Trailing by one, the Hawks came down on offense, and after running most of the shot clock off, senior Ayahna Cornishwas fouled on a layup attempt. Cornish calmly made both free throws to give Saint Joseph's a 54-53 edge with 36 seconds left.

On the ensuing Boston College possession, the Eagles got the ball into Ress in the paint, who was fouled on a layup attempt. After making the first one to tie the game at 54, Ress missed the second one. The Hawks' senior Whitney Ffrench was almost immediately fouled as she drove up the court by the Eagles' Sarah Marshall and went to the line for one-and-one.

Ffrench would make both free throws, giving the Hawks a scant 56-54 lead with nine seconds remaining.

Following a Boston College timeout, the Eagles got the ball into Ress with six seconds left, only to have her short turnaround miss, and fall into Cornish's hands.

Cornish, who was fouled immediately, sank both foul shots to secure the Hawks' victory.

In the first half, Boston College came out strong, scoring the first 10 points.

After Saint Joseph's came back to cut the deficit to 14-11, the Eagles went on an 18-5 run to take a 32-16 advantage on a Ress layin at the 6:06 mark.

The Hawks fought back and cut their deficit to 36-25 by the half.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 37.7 percent from the field (20-of-53), and 50 percent in the second half (11-of-22). From behind the arc, the Hawks finished 8-of-20 and shot 90.9 percent from the foul line (10-of-11). At the other end, Boston College, who shot 22.2 percent in the second half (6-of-27), finished the game 18-of-48 from the floor (37.5 percent) and 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) from three-point range. The Eagles, who went 14-of-16 from the foul line, outrebounded the Hawks 36-23.

Individually, Loschiavo led the Hawks with a career-high 14 points, while Ffrench finished with 13 points and six assists. Cornish added 11 points to go with two steals and a block.

For the Eagles, Ress led all scorers with 21 points, while Elisabeth Egnell posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 4-4 on the season, while Boston College falls to 7-3.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Sunday when it hosts Maine at 2 p.m.

*** Photos from tonights contest are available at www.sidephotos.com