Dec. 14, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Shooting a season-best 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55) and having nine of 10 players score, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped Akron, 77-59, Sunday afternoon at the Gallagher Center. The Hawks handed out a season-high 18 assists, as they improved to 5-5 on the year.

Both teams started the game slowly, with five ties in the opening 6:25.

With the game knotted at 10 apiece, the Hawks pulled away from the Zips behind a 20-2 run that spanned 9:16. Saint Joseph's had five different players score during the run as freshman guard Katie Kuester capped it with a three pointer to put the Hawks up 30-12 at 4:19.

Saint Joseph's, which held Akron to 1-for-12 during the Hawks' run, scored the last six points of the opening half, as SJU extended a 32-18 advantage to 38-18 at the half.

On the defensive end, Saint Joseph's was stellar in the first half, holding Akron to 25.9 percent from the field (7-of-27) and caused eight turnovers. At the other end, the Hawks shot a season-best 51.6 percent from the floor (16-of-31) as eight players tallied a basket over the opening 20 minutes.

The second half saw a more active offense from Akron, but the Hawks answered back nearly every time. Saint Joseph's continued to hold a 20-point advantage for the majority of the second stanza, opening up its biggest lead of 26, 61-25, on a pair of free throws by junior guard Amy Gillespie at 9:06.

The Zips (2-6), who scored 41 points in the second half, cut the deficit to 15 twice, but would never come closer as the Hawks held on for the win and improved to 3-0 at home this season.

Individually for SJU, Gillespie, junior forward Brittany Ford and senior guard Jenna Loschiavo each scored 12 points, while junior guard Mariame Djouara and junior forward Ashley Logue each added 10 points apiece. Logue added a team-high seven rebounds, while senior guard Mary Kate McDade added six points, six assists and two steals. Sophomore Dominique Bryant scored a career-best eight points in her first career start, while Kuester also added six points, and freshman Kelly Cavallo scored her first collegiate point and block.

At the other end, Akron shot just 29.7 percent from the field (19-of-64), while Kara Murphy paced the Zips with 14 points.

Saint Joseph's has a week's rest in between games as the Hawks return to action Monday, December 22 versus Seton Hall. The game is the first of a doubleheader at The Palestra, with the Hawks tipping off at 5 p.m. and the SJU men's team hosting Cornell at 7:30 p.m.

***Photos from today's contest available at www.sidephotos.com.