March 15, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Hosting its first postseason game since 2003-04, having home-court advantage wasn't enough for the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team as the Hawks season came to a close at the hands of Coppin State, 67-52, in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Thursday at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Hawks and Eagles both started out slowly as both squads hadn't played in over a week. Trailing 11-8, Saint Joseph's put together a 7-0 run, from 11:03 to 7:46, opening its biggest lead of the game, 15-11 on a free throw by senior guard Ayahna Cornish.

Coppin State answered back with an 11-0 run of its own, sparked by six points by Danielle Anders, giving the Eagles a 22-15 advantage with 2:43 remaining in the half.

The Hawks would outscore CSU 5-4 to end the half, with the Eagles holding a 26-22 lead at halftime.

Saint Joseph's cut the deficit to 33-30 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Coppin State quickly responded. Behind an 11-1 run, the Eagles opened up a 44-31 edge on a three pointer by Shalamar Oakley with 11:01 left in the game.

Coppin State extended its lead to 14, 53-39, with 5:13 remaining, but the Hawks kept fighting. Boosted by four points from Cornish, the Hawks cut their deficit to eight, 53-45, with 3:12 left to go.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, that was the closest they'd get as the Eagles outscored SJU 14-7 to end the game.

For the contest, the Hawks finished 19-of-44 from the field (43.2 percent), 3-of-11 from three-point range (27.3 percent) and 11-of-18 from the foul line (61.1 percent). At the other end, Coppin State went 26-of-71 from the floor (36.6 percent), 4-of-11 from behind the arc (36.4 percent) and 11-of-13 from the foul line (84.6 percent). The Eagles also won the battle of the boards 49-27, while causing 17 Hawk turnovers to only 11 of their own.

Individually, Cornish paced the Hawks with a game-high 19 points, to go with four rebounds and a block, while freshman forward Brittany Ford added 11 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Tanezia Harden led the way for Eagles, with Rashida Suber adding 16 and Anders 11.

With the loss, the Hawks finish the year 19-14, while Coppin State improves to 25-7.

Even though Saint Joseph's season came to a close, it was still another banner year for the Hawks that included its second-straight WNIT appearance, beat a top-10 team (No. 8/9 George Washington) for the first time since the 1991-92 season, and advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship for 10th time in team history.

*** Photos from today's game are available at www.SidePhotos.com.