Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, PA - Saint Joseph's senior Timisha Gomez's pair of free throws with 4.4 seconds left and a key strip on the ensuing play helped the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team earn an improbable 60-59 win it its season opener at Lehigh Saturday night at Stabler Arena. The victory for the Hawks is their fifth straight in season openers as they improved to 26-9 in season-opening contests.

The Hawks (1-0) trailed by 13, 54-41, with 6:18 remaining, but mounted a 17-0 run over the next four to take their first lead since the early going, 56-54 on a pair of free throws by junior guard Mary Kate McDade at 2:33

The score was knotted twice over the next two minutes as a Melissa Rich layup tied the game at 58 apiece.

On the following Saint Joseph's possession, Lehigh's Tricia Smith came stole a pass and streaked towards an empty court. The Hawks' defense caught up to her, sending her to the line. After making the first, her second was off the mark as SJU held possession down 59-58 with 17 seconds left.

On the ensuing possession, the Hawks got the ball to Gomez, who dribbled into the right post. Her turn-around jumper was off the mark, but the senior was hit on the way up, giving her a chance to put Saint Joseph's up. Gomez calmly swished the pair with 4.4 seconds left.

After having an in-bound play tipped away with 2.6 seconds left, Lehigh got the ball into the hands of Kristen Dalton, only to have Gomez reach in and grab the ball to pull out the victory for Saint Joseph's.

In the first half, both teams started slowly. Lehigh held an early 6-2 edge, but the Hawks fought back with seven straight points to take a 9-6 lead on a layup by sophomore forward Ashley Logue at 15:39.

Down 8-11 at 14:12, Lehigh responded with an 18-2 run over the next eight minutes as Melissa Rich's putback with 5:20 left in the half put the Mountain Hawks up 26-13. Saint Joseph's turned the ball over four times and went just 1-of-8 from the floor.

After back-to-back layups by Logue and Sarah Acker to draw Saint Joseph's within nine, Lehigh rolled off eight straight points to take their biggest lead of the game, 34-17at 2:16 on a three pointer by Alex Ross.

Saint Joseph's put together a strong finish to the opening stanza as freshman forward Dominique Bryant scored six of the Hawks' final eight-straight points to cut the deficit to 34-24 after 20 minutes. Saint Joseph's finished the first half 10-of-29 from the field (34.5 percent), but just 1-of-8 from three point range, while the Mountain Hawks shot 34.4 percent from the field (11-of-32), but 4-of-9 from three.

Saint Joseph's fought back hard midway through the half, cutting into Lehigh's lead to 40-36 on a layin by freshman Kallie Hovatter. But Lehigh responded as it extended its lead to double figures before the furious final minutes.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 19-of-60 from the field (31.7 percent), 3-of-16 from three-point range (18.8 percent) and 19-of-26 from the foul line (73.1 percent). At the other end, Lehigh went 21-of-63 (33.3 percent), 4-of-16 from behind the arc and 13-of-17 at the line (76.5 percent). The Hawks won the battle of the boards 48-41, while the Mountain Hawks had only 15 turnovers to SJU's 18.

Individually, Logue paced Saint Joseph's with a career-high 16 points to go with six rebounds. Gomez finished with 12 points and tied her career-high with nine rebounds, while Acker posted a double-double in her collegiate debut with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

The Mountain Hawks were led by a game-high 17 points from Melissa Rich.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Wednesday, November 14 when the Hawks host Drexel at 7 p.m.

Other Notes - Saint Joseph's improved to 7-1 all-time versus Lehigh with the win.
- Freshman Kallie Hovatter had a team-high two steals to go along with two points.
- Freshman Dominique Bryant had five points in her collegiate debut, while classmate Alexis Johnson added a pair of offensive rebounds.
- Juniors Jenna Loschiavo and Mary Kate McDade each had four assists, while adding eight and four points, respectively.
- Sophomore Amy Gillespie scored three points. - Senior Amy Wold added an assist and a steal.
- Saint Joseph's 48 rebounds today matched the Hawks' 06-07 single-game high.