Dec. 1, 2007

Box Score

PROVIDENCE, RI - Posting its best shooting day of the season, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped Manhattan, 65-58, Saturday at the Brown Basketball Classic. The Hawks, who shot 45 percent from the floor, will square off against the host Brown Bears at 3 p.m. Sunday for the tournament title.

After an ugly first half, in which both teams combined for 27 turnovers, the Hawks broke open their 22-22 tie with the Jaspers quickly as senior guard Timisha Gomez hit a three pointer and sophomore Ashley Logue added a pair of free throws to put SJU up 27-22 at 18:15.

Manhattan (3-3) answered with a three pointer by Caitlin Flood, but Saint Joseph's responded with a 13-4 run over the next five minutes as Wold put the Hawks up 40-29 with 13:03 remaining.

The Jaspers kept chipping away at the Hawks' lead, cutting it to a 59-56 game with 48 seconds remaining.

Saint Joseph's didn't falter at the foul line though, as the team went 6-of-6 to close out the game and earn the victory to improve to 4-2.

In the opening half, Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 9-2 edge to start the game as senior Timisha Gomez scored five of her team-high 17 points during that stretch.

Manhattan quickly responded and tied the game at 13 apiece at the 10:33 mark on a jumpshot by Vanessa Davison.

Both the Hawks and Jaspers struggled over the remaining time in the first half, with each squad committing eight turnovers, while scoring just nine points apiece to go into the lockerroom tied at 22 all.

For the game, the Hawks finished 18-of-40 from the floor, while going 9-of-18 from three-point range and 20-of-23 from the foul line (93.8 percent). At the other end, Manhattan shot 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) from the field, 5-0f-13 from behind the arc (38.5 percent) and 9-of-15 from the foul line (60 percent). Despite posting a season-low 27 rebounds, the Hawks still outrebounded Manhattan 27-22, but turned the ball over 21 times.

Individually, Gomez hit a season-high in points (17), while adding six rebounds and a pair of assists. Earning their first career starts, senior Amy Wold and sophomore Amy Gillespie excelled for SJU, setting career highs in points, 11 and 10, respectively. Junior co-captain Mary Kate McDade also set a new career-high in scoring with nine points, while adding five assists.

Flood paced the Jaspers with 18 points, while Gabrielle Cottrell was the only other Manhattan player to score in double figures, adding 11 points.