Feb. 19, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - On a day the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team honored its senior class, it was junior guard Whitney Ffrench and sophomore guard Timisha Gomez who combined for 30 points to help lead the Hawks to a 61-55 victory over La Salle Sunday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

With La Salle leading by one, 38-37, at the 12:42 mark of the second half, the Hawks took the lead for good on a 6-0 run over the next four minutes. Ffrench accounted for four of those points, as a pair of her free throws put SJU up 43-38.

Trailing by eight with 2:24 to go, the Explorers scored five straight as Shaune McLaughlin cut it to a one-possession game, 51-48, on a three pointer with 1:44 remaining.

After exchanging baskets, freshman guard Jen Oyler nailed a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining to make it a 56-50 game.

Saint Joseph's would make five of seven free throws over the remaining 58 seconds to hold on to the victory.

In the first half, the game remained close over the opening 10 minutes as the Hawks and Explorers were tied at 15 apiece. Saint Joseph's would go up by as many as five, 22-17, but La Salle fought back to make it a 22-21 game with 3:59 remaining.

The Hawks outscored the Explorers 6-3 over the final minutes to take a 28-24 edge into the half.

Saint Joseph's quickly extended its lead to six, 30-24, in the opening minute of the second half, but La Salle kept at it and scored 14 of the next 21 points to take its first lead of the second stanza at 38-37.

For the game, the Hawks finished 21-of-55 from the field (38.2 percent) and 6-of-14 from behind the arc (42.8 percent). At the other end, La Salle shot 23-of-52 from the floor (44.2 percent) and 5-of-11 from three-point range (45.5 percent). A major difference in the game came at the line where SJU finished 13-of-21 to La Salle's 4-of-7.

Individually, Ffrench led all scorers with 16 points, adding three assists and seven rebounds. Gomez added 14 points off the bench, as senior Faith Schutte added 10 points. Freshman center Hillary Klimowicz added eight points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Erica Pollock added four points. Seniors Maura McBryan and Christen Scanlon and Oyler added three points apiece.

McLaughlin led La Salle with 15 points and eight rebounds.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 17-8 on the season, 8-5 in the Atlantic 10 and finish 2-2 in Big 5. The loss drops the Explorers to 11-14 overall, 7-7 in the A-10 and 1-3 in the Big 5. Prior to the game, the Hawks held a pregame ceremony recognizing seniors Schutte, McBryan, Scanlon, Christine Roth and manager Andrew Pilecki for their years of dedication to Saint Joseph's basketball.

Saint Joseph's hits the road for the final two games of the season beginning with a contest Friday evening at Xavier. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.