Feb. 5, 2006

Box Score

AMHERST, MA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball three-game win streak was snapped Sunday afternoon as the Hawks fell to Massachusetts at the Mullins Center.

Massachusetts jumped out to a 10-3 advantage to start the game. Form there, the Minutewomen went on a 9-3 run to open up a 13-point lead, 19-6 on a basket by Stefanie Gerardot at 12:38.

Trailing 26-15, Saint Joseph's made a run of its own, scoring 12 of the next 17 points to cut the deficit to 31-27 in a free throw by freshman center Hillary Klimowicz's (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) with 1:42 left in the half.

The Minutewomen would outscore the Hawks 5-4 over the final seconds to take a 36-31 lead into the half as they finished 11-of-17 from the field for 64.7 percent.

Saint Joseph's outscored Massachusetts 7-3 to start the second stanza, cutting the deficit to 39-38 on a jumpshot by senior forward Maura McBryan at 14:17.

Following a 5-0 spurt by the Minutewomen, the Hawks scored seven straight, taking its first lead of the game, 45-44, on a free throw by senior forward Faith Schutte with 8:49 remaining in the contest.

Seven free throws and a layup by Pam Rosanio at 3:33 put Massachusetts up 53-45.

The Hawks would get no closer than four over the final minutes as the Minutewomen would score seven of its last nine from the foul line.

For the game, the Hawks finished 16-of-15 from the floor (31.4 percent), and 15-of-23 from the line. Massachusetts finished 16-of-35 (45.7 percent) and 28-of-34 from the charity stripe (82.4 percent).

Individually, freshman guard Jen Oyler paced the Hawks with a career-high 20 points, while Klimowicz and junior guard Whitney Ffrench added nine a piece. Klimowicz also led the team with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Tamara Tatham, Katie Nelson and Patrycja Gulak combined for 44 of the Minutewomen's 63 points.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 15-7 overall and 7-4 in the Atlantic 10 play, while Massachusetts improved to 8-14 overall and 5-5 in the A-10.

Saint Joseph's returns to action next Sunday, February 12 when it hosts Dayton at 2 p.m.