Dec. 28, 2010

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - A layup by Saint Joseph's junior guard Michelle Baker with 4.2 seconds remaining lifted her team to a 67-66 victory over New Hampshire in the opening game of the 20th Annual Hawk Classic, Tuesday afternoon at Hagan Arena. With the win, the Hawks improve to 9-3 on the year and will face Lafayette on Wednesday for the tournament title.

Having led for the majority of the second half, the Hawks found themselves down one, 66-65, on a jumper in the lane by Lauren Wells with 13 seconds to go. Off a timeout, Saint Joseph's worked the ball the distance of the court, as the ball ended up in Baker's hands at the foul line. Catching in fluid movement, Baker drove down the left lane, past New Hampshire's Jill McDonald for the go-ahead basket.

With no timeouts remaining, the Wildcats hurried the ball down the court, but a desperation three-point attempt by Kelsey Hogan never had a chance.

New Hampshire (2-8) jumped out to an early 10-5 lead to start the game in a very fast-paced opening eight minutes. Down 18-14 though, the Hawks chipped away and eventually built a 10-point lead on a layup by sophomore Mireia Vila. Saint Joseph's used a 19-5 run over nearly 10 minutes, taking a 33-23 edge with 1:10 to go in the half and a 33-26 lead into the second stanza.

In the second frame, the Wildcats tied the game at 47-all near the midpoint, but Saint Joseph's widened it back to eight, 61-53, on a three pointer by junior guard Katie Kuester with 4:56 left.

From there though, New Hampshire went on a 13-5 run, with Wells' jumper putting them ahead for the first time since the first half. The Hawks, who went 2-of-6 from the field and turned the ball over three times during the stretch, also failed to take control from the foul line, missing three-straight in the final minutes, before Baker's game-winning basket.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 47.4 percent from the floor (27-of-57) and 5.29 percent from three-point range (9-of-17), but hit just 4-of-8 from the foul line.

Individually, Kuester finished with a team-high 14 points, while Baker scored 13 points to go with four assists. Junior forward/center Samira Van Grinsven posted her first double-double as a Hawk, scoring 11points and adding 10 rebounds, while classmate Kelly Cavallo was the fourth Hawk in double figures, scoring 10 points.

Additionally, Vila scored a career-high eight points, while freshman Erin Shields had nine points to go with four assists. Sophomore Ashley Prim rounded out SJU's scoring with two points and five assists.

At the other end, McDonald scored a game-high 19 points as New Hampshire finished 24-of-61 from the floor (39.3 percent), 8-of-15 from three-point range (53.3 percent) and 10-of-14 from the foul line (71.4 percent).

***Photos from today's game available at www.sidephotos.com.