Nov. 18, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team dropped its first game of the 2007-08 season Sunday afternoon as Virginia Commonwealth topped the Hawks 54-47. Shooting just 28.3 percent from the field (17-of-60), Saint Joseph's saw the game slip away as the Rams closed out the contest with a 10-2 run.

In a game that saw 14 lead changes and 10 ties, both Saint Joseph's (2-1) and Virginia Commonwealth (3-0) battled for all 40 minutes. The Hawks held a slim 45-44 edge with 3:56 remaining in the contest, but a 10-2 run by the Rams changed the momentum. Virginia Commonwealth's Quanitra Hollingsworth sparked the run with a layup at 3:37. Over the next 3:13, the Rams extended their lead to six, 51-45 behind four points by Krystal Vaughn and five missed shots by Saint Joseph's.

The Hawks cut the deficit to 51-47 on a pair of free throws by senior Timisha Gomez with 23 seconds remaining, but Saint Joseph's couldn't come up with a VCU turnover and the Rams made three free throws over the remaining time to hold on for the win.

It was a back-and-forth game over the opening 20 minutes as neither squad lead by more than six.

Virginia Commonwealth controlled a slow-moving game over the first nine minutes as the Rams held a 12-8 advantage off a Kita Waller jump shot at 10:58.

The Hawks fought back to tie the score at 12, with both teams trading baskets to a tie at 18 with 2:02 left in the opening half. From their, Saint Joseph's used an 8-4 run to finish the half as Gomez added six of her 15 points during that stretch.

The Rams used a 5-0 run to open the second half to regain the lead, 27-26, but neither team was able to shake the other.

Saint Joseph's twice held a four-point edge, 35-31 and 39-35, but each time the Ram fought back, leading to the frantic final minutes.

Individually, freshman Sarah Acker paced Saint Joseph's with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Gomez added 15 points and six boards.

At the other end, Hollingsworth and Krystal Vaughn combined for 36 points, 19 and 17 points respectively.

Saint Joseph's returns to action this Tuesday when the Hawks open Big 5 play at Penn. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.