Dec. 3, 2010

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NEW ORLEANS - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team dropped its third-straight game, falling to Tulane, 67-58, Friday night in the opening game of the Big Easy Classic at Fogelman Arena. The Hawks (3-3) came from 10-points down to take a two-point lead with six minutes to go, but couldn't keep the momentum as the Green Wave ended the game with a 15-4 run.

Trailing 46-36 with 13 minutes to go in the game, Saint Joseph's went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes as a pair of free throws by junior guard Michelle Baker gave the Hawks their first lead since the first half.

The lead would trade hands over the next two minutes with SJU holding a 54-52 edge on a Baker layup with 6:11 to go in the contest.

From there though, Tulane's offense clicked, while the Hawks' faltered. The Green Wave went 3-of-4 from the field and knocked down 9-of-12 free throws to end the game, while SJU shot 2-of-9 and turned the ball over four times.

After a back-and-forth opening to the game, Saint Joseph's opened a seven-point advantage off a jumper in the lane by junior guard Katie Kuester. The Hawks' 6-0 run capped a hot start that saw them shoot 8-of-10 from the field.

Tulane rallied with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes. Tiffany Aidoo's layup at 8:23 gave the Green Wave their first lead since the opening two minutes.

The Hawks scored seven-straight points to regain the lead, 29-24, but Tulane capped the first half with an 11-2 spurt as the host Green Wave took a 35-31 lead into the second half.

Tulane would open a 10-point gap early into the second half as the Green Wave outscored the Hawks 9-3 to start the second stanza.

As a team, Saint Joseph's shot 43.6 percent from the floor (24-of-55), went 5-of-15 from three-point range and 5-of-6 from the foul line. At the other end, Tulane hit 22-of-56 from the field (39.3 percent), and went 5-of-13 from behind the arc (38.5 percent) and 18-of-27 from the foul line (66.7 percent).

Baker paced SJU's offense with a career-best 18 points, while junior forward Kelly Cavallo added 12 points.

Aidoo led all scorers with a career-high 20 points to pace Tulane.

Saint Joseph's caps play in the Big Easy Classic tomorrow against Detroit at 5:30 p.m. EST.

OF NOTE: Freshman Samira Van Grinsven added a game-high three blocks...sophomore Mireia Vila addd two points, three rebounds an assist and a steal in a career-high 22 minutes...sophomore Ashley Prim had a team-best seven assists.