Nov. 23, 2010

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team's three-game win streak to start the season came to a halt Tuesday as the Hawks dropped their first game of the season, 50-47, to Drexel. Leading by nine points early in the second half, Saint Joseph's saw its lead disappear in the final five minutes as the Dragons broke a 39-all tie and eventually prevailed.

Up by five at the break, Saint Joseph's opened its biggest lead 3:54 into the second half as junior forward Kelly Cavallo's layup put her team up 21-30.

The Hawks' offense would stall from there though as Drexel went on a 14-2 run over the next 9:50. Saint Joseph's (3-1) turned the ball over five times and went 1-of-7 from the floor, while the Dragons' Kamile Nacickaite put her team up 35-32 on a jumper at 6:16.

Cavallo's layup with 5:45 left gave SJU a 39-37 lead, but it wouldn't last long as Tyler Hale sparked a 7-0 Drexel run that saw the Dragons take a 44-39 lead with 3:57 left.

Down 46-41 with less than two minutes to go, Saint Joseph's made it a 46-44 game, and fouled Drexel's Marissa Crane with 43 seconds remaining.

With a chance to give her team a two-possession lead, Crane made the first half of a one-and-one, but missed the second, as junior guard Katie Kuester grabbed the rebound for SJU.

Saint Joseph's moved the ball around, looking for a clean look from three-point range, but Drexel's defense flustered the Hawks, causing a shot-clock violation with 11 seconds to go.

Drexel's Jasmina Rosseel made two free throws, but the Hawks' Erin Sheilds gave her team a chance in the final moments, knocking down a deep three pointers with two seconds left on the clock.

The Hawks immediately fouled Crane, sending her to the line again for one-and-one. After making the first, Crane again missed the second, but junior guard Michelle Baker's shot from SJU's own foul line never made it to the rim as Drexel held on to win and improve to 3-0.

In the first half, Drexel started quickly, opening an 8-1 advantage to open the game, while holding the Hawks without a field goal over the first 4:14.

Down 10-3, the Hawks answered back with an 8-0 spurt as Baker gave SJU its first lead, 11-10, on a jump shot from the foul line with 7:43 left in the half.

From there, Saint Joseph's outscored the Dragons 10-6 to end the half as a layup by Cavallo beat the buzzer to give the Hawks a 21-16 edge at halftime.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 45.5 percent from the field (20-of-44), 23.1 percent from three-point range (3-of-13) and went 4-of-6 from the foul line. The Hawks held Drexel to just 38.5 percent from the floor (20-of-52), but turned the ball over 18 times and were out rebounded 30-28.

Individually, Cavallo led SJU with 12 points and had five rebounds, while Baker was the only other Hawk in double figures, finishing with 10 points and a team-best four assists.

Nacicaite led the way for Drexel with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Saint Joseph's has a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action Wednesday, December 1 at Lehigh. The game is set for a noon start.