Feb. 8, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - In a battle for fourth place in the Atlantic 10, Xavier downed the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team, 85-72, Thursday evening at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

In a fast-paced first half, Xavier saw its early 6-0 wiped away as the Hawks used a 14-4 run over a 2:33 span to take a 14-10 advantage. Saint Joseph's senior guard Whitney Ffrench capped the run on a layup at the 14:38 mark.

Despite leading 17-12, the Hawks saw their lead quickly slip away over the next 5:31. The Musketeers mounted a 13-4 run, taking a 25-21 lead on a Joei Clyburn layup at 9:01.

Saint Joseph's fought back to take a 31-30 advantage, but again Xavier responded, this time with a 9-0 run. A pair of Clyburn free throws put the Musketeers up 39-31 with 3:41 remaining in the first half.

Xavier would extend its lead to 42-33, but head into half up only seven, 42-35, following a layup by Saint Joseph's sophomore guard Jenna Loschiavo with 32 seconds left.

The Musketeers extended their lead to 17, 53-38, 4:22 into the second half as they used a 13-1 run to begin the final stanza.

While Xavier extended its lead to as many as 18, 64-46, the Hawks fought back to a single-digit deficit in the final minutes. Trailing 73-58, the Hawks used a 9-1 run to cut to trail 74-67 with 3:26 remaining on a jump shot by sophomore guard Jen Oyler.

Unfortunately for Saint Joseph's, that would be as close as they'd get as Xavier outscored the Hawks 11-5 to end the game.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 25-of-71 from the field (35.2 percent), 7-of-26 from behind the arc (26.9 percent) and 15-of-17 from the line (88.2 percent). At the other end, the Musketeers finished 27-of-59 from the floor (45.8 percent), 4-of-7 from three-point range (57.1 percent) and 27-of-36 from the foul line (75.0 percent). The Hawks did win the battle of the boards 44-40, but turned the ball over 17 times to Xavier's 14.

Individually, Ffrench led the Hawk with 17 points, three assists and three steals. Oyler added 15 points, while junior Timisha Gomez chipped in with 14 points and Loschiavo added 11.

Xavier's Suntana Granderson led all scorers with 28 points, while Amber Harris finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, six blocks to go with 16 points.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 13-10 on the season and 5-4 in Atlantic 10 play. Xavier improves to 18-7 on the year and 6-3 in conference play

Saint Joseph's returns to action Sunday, February 11 when the Hawks host Charlotte at 2 p.m.