Feb. 24, 2006

Box Score

CINCINNATI, OH - A 13-2 edge in the overtime session was the difference Friday night at the Cintas Center as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 63-52 contest to Xavier.

The Hawks held a 46-38 edge with just under six minutes remaining in the contest, but the Musketeers chipped away with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 50 and force overtime.

In the extra session, Xavier converted 13-of-16 from the foul line, while the Hawks finish 1-of-9 from the field.

In the first half, the Hawks jumped out to an eight-point advantage, 22-14. Trailing 14-11, Saint Joseph's used a 11-0 run over a five-minute span as a three pointer by Jenna Loschiavo capped the run with 1:37 remaining in the stanza.

The second half saw the Hawks jump out to as many as 10, but Xavier kept chipping away before tying it in the waning seconds.

For the game, Saint Joseph's finished 22-of-60 from the field (36.7 percent), while the Musketeers went 20-of-53 (37.7 percent). The biggest discrepancy came at the line where Xavier went 19-of-26, while the Hawks finished 3-of-8.

Individually, senior Faith Schutte led the Hawks with 16 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Freshman guard Jen Oyler added nine points, while sophomore guard Timisha Gomez added eight.

At the other end, All-American candidate Tara Boothe led the way for Xavier with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 17-9 on the season and 9-6 in Atlantic 10 play. Xavier improves to 19-7 overall and clinched the fourth seed and a bye for next week's A-10 Tournament as it moved to 10-5 in conference play.

Saint Joseph's caps its regular season this Sunday, February 26, at Richmond.