Nov. 29, 2009

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fell to St. John's, 81-74, in the championship game of the Florida International Thanksgiving Classic Sunday afternoon at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Senior guard Amy Gillespie and sophomore forward Kelly Cavallo earned All-Tournament Team honors for the Hawks.

In a game that Saint Joseph's (2-4) led a majority of, the final minutes belonged to the Red Storm (5-0) as they scored on five straight possessions to end contest, coming back from as many as 13 points.

Saint Joseph's opened a 49-36 lead on a layup by junior forward Dominique Bryant at 15:24. But St. John's answered with a 13-2 run over the next 4:12 to make it a 51-49 game with 11:12 to go.

The Hawks answered back, and would on several occasions in the following minutes, as St. John's tied the game twice in the next four minutes.

Saint Joseph's upped its lead to 70-65 on a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Michelle Baker at 4:57, however St. John's used a 7-1 run over the next 1:37 to take its first lead since the opening basket.

Freshman guard Ashley Prim tied the game at 72 all on a free throw with 2:57 left, but the Red Storm's offense took over from there, outscoring Saint Joseph's 9-2 to end the contest.

Down 76-72, Saint Joseph's turned the ball over and after running off valuable time, St. John's Nadirah McKenith drove down an open left wing for an uncontested layup to give the Red Storm a six-point lead with 1:02 to go.

A layup by SJU senior forward Brittany Ford made it four-point game with 46 seconds left, but St. John's Centhya Hart converted a three-point play with 16 seconds remaining as she scored as the shot clock expired to seal the victory for the Red Storm.

In the first half, Saint Joseph's controlled the pace of game out of the block, going 7-of-9 from the floor to open a 16-6 lead early.

St. John's fought back to tie the game at 20 all midway through the stanza, but the Hawks responded with a 21-12 run to finish the half and take a 41-32 edge into halftime.

For the game, Saint Joseph's went 29-of-57 from the floor (50.9 percent), 2-of-12 from three-point range (16.7 percent) and 14-of-18 from the foul line (77.8 percent). Sunday marked the second-straight game the Hawks shot over 50 percent as SJU shot 53 percent in its win over Florida International on Friday.

Individually, Cavallo scored a career-high 15 points and added six rebounds a steal and a block, while Baker also scored a career-high 15 points and added three assists. Gillespie finished with 12 points and a team-best four steals, while Bryant and Ford each added 10 points apiece.

At the other end, Tournament MVP Da'Shena Stevens scored a game-high 23 points, while St. John's finished 34-of-67 from the floor (50.7 percent), going 21-of-33 in the second half (63.6 percent).

Saint Joseph's returns to action Friday when the Hawks host Hartford at 7 p.m.