Dec. 28, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team jumped out quickly on Maine and never looked back as the Hawks cruised to a 74-46 win over the Black Bears Sunday in the first day of the 18th Annual Hawk Classic at the Gallagher Center. In the opening game, Holy Cross held off Drexel, 63-58.

The Hawks (6-6) started out strong as their defense held the Black Bears scoreless over the opening 8:00, while the offense helped Saint Joseph's to a 13-0 lead. Junior guard Mariame Djouara capped the run with a layup at 13:27 as she and sophomore forward Dominique Bryant combined for 10 of the Hawks' first 13 points.

Up 23-10, Saint Joseph's scored six straight points to open its biggest lead of the half, 31-10, on a layup by junior forward Brittany Ford at 4:08.

Maine (2-9) would chip away at the Hawks' lead, but SJU would take a 35-16 edge into halftime as it shot 42.4 percent from the field (14-of-33), while causing 19 Black Bear turnovers.

In the second half, Saint Joseph's continued to hold Maine at a distance. The Hawks used an 18-3 run midway through the stanza, upping their 49-27 lead to 67-30 as junior guard Amy Gillespie capped the run with a three-point play at 6:08.

For the game, the Hawks shot 45.3 percent from the field (29-of-64), 27.8 percent from three-point range (5-of-18) and 11-of-12 from the foul line (91.7 percent). At the other end, the Black Bears finished 14-of-42 from the field (33.3 percent), 3-of-10 from three-point range and 15-of-21 from the foul line (71.4 percent). Saint Joseph's won the battle of the boards 36-31 and caused 27 Maine turnovers.

Individually, Gillespie paced SJU with 15 points, while Djouara and senior guard Jenna Loschiavo added 12 and 11 points apiece. Junior forward Ashley Logue grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go with nine points, while senior guard Mary Kate McDade handed out a game-high six assists to go with six points and freshman forward Kelly Cavallo scored a career-high five points to go with four rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

Brittany Boser led Maine with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

In the first game of the 18th Annual Hawk Classic, Holy Cross improved to 2-9 on the season as the Crusaders held off Drexel, 63-58. Holy Cross led by as many as 16 in the second half, only to have the Dragons (4-6) fight back and hold a 53-51 edge with 2:39 to play.

Seeing their double-digit advantage evaporate, the Crusaders stayed tough and outscored Drexel 12-5 to end the contest, as Kathy Gruzynski gave Holy Cross the lead for good with a layup with 00:31 remaining to put her team up 57-55. The Crusaders would go 6-of-6 from the foul line to earn the victory.

Day two of the Hawk Classic will have Saint Joseph's hosting Holy Cross, while Drexel and Maine square off at approximately 4 p.m. There will be no team champion crowned this season.