Dec. 22, 2009

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Knocking down a season-high eight three pointers, including four from sophomore guard Katie Kuester, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped Old Dominion, 78-62, Tuesday afternoon at the Michael J. Hagan '85 Arena. Kuester matched her career-high of 14 points, while SJU (4-7) forced a season-best 28 turnovers and snagged 17 steals.

Old Dominion (2-7) grabbed a 13-8 lead to start the game, but the Hawks quickly answered. Saint Joseph's used a 12-2 run as senior forward Ashley Logue's jumper gave the Hawks a 20-15 advantage.

The Monarchs fought to back to grab a 23-22 advantage, but Saint Joseph's tallied six straight points on back-to-back three pointers from junior forward Dominique Bryant and senior guard Amy Gillespie.

Leading 31-29, the Hawks used an 8-0 run to close out the opening half, with freshman guard Ashley Prim scoring four of her eight points during that stretch to give SJU a 39-29 edge at halftime.

Saint Joseph's extended its lead to 14, 45-31, early in the second half as it opened with a 6-2 spurt.

Trailing 49-36, Old Dominion scored 11 straight points from 14:31 to 13:03 to make it a 49-47 game on a three-point play by Tia Lewis.

The Hawks quickly answered with a 10-2 run, as a Kuester three pointer extended the lead to 59-49 with 9:06 to go. Saint Joseph's would hold the Monarchs at bay over the remaining time as they allowed ODU to come no closer than seven points.

For the game, the Hawks shot 26-of-58 from the floor (44.8 percent), 8-of-19 from behind the arc (42.1 percent) and 18-of-27 from the foul line. At the other end, Old Dominion went 23-of-56 from the floor (41.1 percent), 3-of-13 from three-point range (23.1 percent) and 13-of-17 from the foul line (76.5 percent). On the boards, Saint Joseph's out rebounded the Monarchs 40-30 and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds.

Logue, Gillespie and sophomore guard Michelle Baker joined Kuester in double-figure scoring as Logue and Baker finished with 12 points apiece, while Gillespie added 10 points. Prim scored eight points and had five steals, while Bryant and senior forward Brittany Ford finished with seven points apiece. Sophomore forward Kelly Cavallo added four points, and senior guard Mariame Djouara and freshman guard Shelby Smith rounded out SJU's scoring with two points, respectively.

At the other end, Lewis scored a game-high 22 points, while Shadasia Green added 20 points for the Monarchs.

Saint Joseph's returns to action on Monday, December 28 against Brown in the opening game of the Hawk Classic. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start with South Carolina facing Boston University in the second game.