March 6, 2009

Box Score

CHARLOTTE - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team's season came to a close Friday evening at the Halton Arena as the Hawks fell to St. Bonaventure in the opening-round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Following a close first half that saw the Bonnies take a 30-28 edge into halftime, Saint Joseph's fought back from an early four-point deficit in the second stanza, tying the game at 35 all on a layup by junior forward Ashley Logue with 13:50 to go.

St. Bonaventure answered back with a three pointer by Katelyn Murray at 12:34, sparking the Bonnies' perimeter game as they knocked down three more three pointers over the next 3:15 to open a 50-42 edge.

Down by 12, 61-49, with under three minutes to play, Saint Joseph's proved it's "Hawk will never die" motto, going 7-of-7 from the line and adding three three pointers to make it a five point game with 0:16 seconds remaining.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, St. Bonaventure's Dana Mitchell knocked down a pair of free throws as Saint Joseph's season came to a close at 13-17.

In a sloppy first half, Saint Joseph's turned the ball over 12 times and trailed for a majority of the 20 minutes.

Down 29-24 with 1:49 left, the Hawks got a pair of free throws from senior guard Mary Kate McDade and a layup by freshman Michelle Baker, to cut it to 29-28, before the Bonnies added a free throw to take a 30-28 lead into the lockerroom.

For the game, the Hawks shot 42.2 percent from the field (19-of-45), 5-of-15 from behind the arc and 22-of-30 from the foul line (73.3 percent). At the other end, St. Bonaventure shot 46.8 percent on 22-of-47 shooting, while going 8-of-13 from behind the arc (61.5 percent) and 20-of-23 from the foul line (87.0 percent). Saint Joseph's caused 15 turnovers, while coughing the ball up just 14 times. The Bonnies finished with a 29-28 edge in rebounding.

Individually, senior guard Jenna Loschiavo paced the Hawks with 13 points and capper her SJU career third all-time in program history with 214 three pointers. Junior guard Mariame Djouara came off the bench to score 12 points, while junior forward Brittany Ford added 11 points. Logue added nine points and two steals, while Baker and sophomore forward Dominique Bryant each added six points apiece. McDade finished with five points to go with a game-high eight rebounds and six assists, finishing her Hawk career seventh all-time with 385 assists. Junior guard Amy Gillespie scored three points, while freshman Kelly Cavallo added a rebound.

At the other end, St. Bonaventure had four players score in double figures, led by Mitchell's 17 points.

The loss ends a season that saw Saint Joseph's earn a share of the Big 5 title, and had eight student-athletes set new career highs in scoring.