March 1, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Leading from the opening moments and never trailing, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team beat Rhode Island, 72-60, Saturday afternoon in both squads' regular season finale at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The Hawks, who finished sixth in the Atlantic 10 at 8-6, will play at 6 p.m. next Friday, March 7, in the 6-seed vs. 11- seed matchup of the A-10 Championship at Hawk Hill. Saint Joseph's opponent will be determined after the final two conference games Saturday evening.

Saint Joseph's (16-13) took control from the opening tip, scoring the first four points and jumping out to a 15-4 edge 6:01 into the contest. Freshman center Sarah Acker scored eight of her game-high 19 points during that stretch.

The Rams (12-17, 5-9 A-10) fought back, cutting the deficit to nine twice, but a 10-2 run from 10:26 to 8:32 saw the Hawks open up a 26-9 advantage as junior guard Jenna Loschiavo capped the run with a three pointer.

Leading 36-21 at the half, Saint Joseph's opened the second stanza with a 12-4 run, as a three pointer by senior guard Timisha Gomez gave the Hawks their biggest lead of the game, 48-25, with 15:59 left in the contest.

Despite the large deficit, Rhode Island fought back. Behind a 14-4 run, the Rams whittled the Hawks lead down to 52-39 on a jumpshot by LaQuanda Brandon at the 9:28 mark.

Rhode Island continued to press, cutting Saint Joseph's lead to 11 three times, but the Hawks answered back each time with either layups or free throws to hold on for the win.

For the game, the Hawks went 25-of-53 from the field (47.2 percent), 5-of-14 from three-point range (35.7 percent) and 17-of-26 from the foul line (65.4 percent). At the other end, the Rams went 26-of-74 from the floor (35.1 percent), 2-of-13 from behind the arc (15.4 percent) and 8-of-12 from the line. The Rams did finish with a slight 43-42 edge in rebounds.

Individually, Acker led all players with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds to post her 10th double-double of the season. Gomez added 14 points and two steals, while sophomore forward Ashley Logue added 13 points and nine rebounds as eight of nine Hawks scored on the day.

At the other end, Crystal Bellinger led the way with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Saint Joseph's honored its five seniors - Gomez, Krista Hutchison, Amy Wold and managers Kim Hartzell and Liz Ryan in a pregame ceremony.