Jan. 28, 2009

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - For the second straight game, it came down to a final shot for the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the result was the same, this time with SJU falling to No. 23/21 Xavier, 42-41, Wednesday evening at the Gallagher Center.

Down 42-38 under a minute to play, Saint Joseph's grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed Musketeer free throw and got the ball up the court to junior guard Mariame Djouara. Djouara pulled up from the top of the three-point arc and buried the shot to cut the deficit to 42-41 with :22 seconds remaining.

Fouling immediately, the Hawks would grab another defensive rebound as Xavier's Special Jenning missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Trailing by one with time running out, Saint Joseph's handed the ball off to Djouara at the right side of the arc. The junior drove down the lane and pulled up for a shot, but had the ball tipped out of her hands slightly, forcing a missed shot and allowing Xavier to grab the rebound.

With a chance to make it a three-point game, Xavier Tudy Reed missed the front end of a one-and-one, but with just 2.5 seconds remaining, a last-second heave by SJU junior Amy Gillespie from over half court fell short as the buzzer sounded.

In a defensive battle that saw neither team take a double-digit lead, Xavier's started off the first half scoring the first five points of the game.

Saint Joseph's retaliated and tied the game at 10, but again found themselves down five, 17-12 with 9:57 left in the first stanza. Behind eight points from the duo of junior forwards Brittany Ford and Ashley Logue, the Hawks knotted the game at 20 all with 3:58 to go.

From there, both teams' offenses went cold, combining to go 0-for-11 from the field, with a free throw by Xavier's Jennigs with :09 seconds left giving the Musketeers a 21-20 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Hawks used a 10-0 run midway through the half to regain the lead, 38-29 after trailing 29-28. Ford accounted for seven of SJU's 10 points, including a three-point play to cap the run at 6:56.

However, Saint Joseph's offense went cold from there, going scoreless for 6:34 until Djouara's three pointer, while the Musketeers put together a 13-0 run to regain the lead.

For the game, the Hawks were held to 26.1 percent from the field (18-of-69), 2-of-19 from three-point range (10.5 percent) and 3-of-7 from the foul line (42.9 percent). At the other end, Xavier didn't shoot much better, going 17-of-48 for the game (35.8 percent), 5-of-18 from behind the arc (27.8 percent) and 3-of-8 from the foul line (37.5 percent). Saint Joseph's won the battle on the board 45-38 and committed just eight turnovers to Xavier's 17.

Individually, Ford led all scorers with 17 points and added eight rebounds. Djouara was the second-leading scorer for the Hawks, scoring seven points and adding three steals.

At the other end, Jerri Taylor led Xavier with 13, points, while the Hawks shutdown All-American candidate Ta'Shia Phillips, holding the sophomore center to just three points and five rebounds.

Saint Joseph's returns to action this Saturday at Rhode Island. Game time is set for 11:30 a.m.