Nov. 20, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team held UMBC to just 25.8 percent from the floor (16-of-62) as the Hawks earned a 64-50 victory Saturday evening at the RAC Arena. Saint Joseph's Junior guard Katie Kuester scored a career-high 16 points as the Hawks improved to 3-0 on the season.

Saint Joseph's jumped put to an early 10-6 lead in the first three minutes, but both teams would struggle to score over the next four minutes. Kuester got the Hawks' offense going from there as she scored five points during a 7-0 run by SJU that saw them open a 17-6 lead at the 10:55 mark.

The Hawks kept the Retrievers at a distance over the remainder of the first half as they never came closer than eight points. Saint Joseph's held UMBC to just 5-of-29 from the field (17.2 percent) in the first half, but never fully pulled away as the Hawks turned the ball over 15 times and shot 34.6 percent from the floor (9-of-26).

Saint Joseph's lead was never threatened in the second half as it would open a 25-point gap midway through the final stanza.

As a team, Saint Joseph's finished 21-of-54 from the floor (38.9 percent), 6-of-17 from three-point range (35.3 percent) and 16-of-17 from the foul line (94.1 percent) The Hawks outrebounded UMBC 55-31, but turned the ball over 27 times.

Kuester finished 5-of-10 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc and 3-of-4 from the line. Junior guard Michelle Baker scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half, while junior forward Kelly Cavallo grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds.

Tope Obajulo scored a game-high 17 points for the Retrievers as they fell to 1-3 on the year.

The Hawks return to action at Drexel on Tuesday at 7 p.m.