Nov. 20, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Putting together its best game of the season, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team downed Penn, 63-46, in the Hawks' Big 5 opener Tuesday at the Palestra.

Trailing 5-2 to start the contest, Saint Joseph's (3-1, 1-0 Big 5) imposed its will quickly and gained momentum of the game. Over an 11 minute stretch, from 17:37 to 6:11, Saint Joseph's opened up a 20-point gap. Using a 29-6 run - which saw seven different Hawks score - SJU took a 31-11 advantage, while holding the Quakers to just 2-of-15 from the field and seven turnovers. Saint Joseph's senior Timisha Gomez led the charge with nine of her 13 points on the night.

Penn (1-3, 0-1 Big 5) closed the deficit to 36-17 at the half and opened the second stanza with a 14-1 run over the first 4:03 to cut the Hawks' lead to 37-31.

Seeing its advantage cut to six, Saint Joseph's answered with a 16-4 run over the next 9:04 as Hawks' freshman center Sarah Acker led the way with eight of her game-high 16 points to put SJU up 53-35.

Saint Joseph's extended its lead to 17 points twice over the remaining time, while not allowing Penn to get any closer than 13 points, 57-44.

The Hawks, who went 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from the floor in the first half, finished the day 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) and 4-of-12 from three-point range. At the other end, Penn finished 19-of-51 from the field (37.3 percent) and 6-of-18 from behind the arc. At the line, SJU went 11-of-17 (64.7 percent), while Penn shot just 2-of-5.

Individually, Acker posted the third double-double of the season, adding 10 rebounds to her 16 points, while Gomez and sophomore forward Ashley Logue added 13 points and 20 points, respectively to lead a balanced SJU attack that saw nine of 10 Hawks score.

At the other end, Carrie Biemer led the Quakers with 11 points, while Maggie Burgess, Sarah Bucar and Amy Donovan each added nine points apiece.

Saint Joseph's returns to action next Wednesday, November 18, when the Hawks host last year's national runner-up Rutgers at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game are still available by calling the Saint Joseph's ticket office at 610-660-1712.

Other Notes
- The Hawks had their fewest turnovers this season, with just 10 versus Penn.

- Sophomore Sarah Acker had a career-high four steals as SJU snagged 11 on the night.

- Freshmen Dominique Bryant and Kallie Hovatter set new season highs with eight points and four points, respectively.

- Senior Amy Wold score her first points of the season (two) and added five assists.

- Junior Jenna Loschiavo added five points, while sophomore Amy Gillespie knocked down three and freshman Alexis Johnson added two.

- Junior point guard Mary Kate McDade was the the only Hawk not to score, but added three assists and three rebounds in 26 minutes.