Dec. 7, 2010

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's women's basketball team capped a seven-game road swing with a 60-45 victory over Penn in the Hawks' Big 5 opener Tuesday at The Palestra. The Hawks, who improved to 5-3 on the year and 4-3 away from Hagan Arena, got 39 combined points from its junior class to move to 1-0 in the Big 5.

Hitting 15-of-25 from the field in the first half (60 percent), the Hawks quickly opened a double-digit lead over the Quakers. Leading 12-9, Saint Joseph's scored 12-straight points over a five-minute span as a layup by freshman forward Ilze Gotfrida put the Hawks up 24-9 with 6:40 to go in the half.

Penn (2-5) answered with an 8-0 run to make it 24-17, but the Hawks ended the half with an 11-4 run to take a 35-21 lead into the second stanza.

The Hawks upped their lead to as many as 17 to start the second half, but the Quakers chipped away, making it a 42-35 game on a pair of free throws by Jess Knapp with 12:32 to go.

Saint Joseph's regained momentum, using an 8-2 run to reopen a double-digit lead, 50-37, at 7:38. The Hawks would allow Penn to get no closer than 10 points from there.

As a team, Saint Joseph's finished 24-of-49 from the field (49 percent), hit 5-of-14 from three-point range (35.7 percent) and knocked down 7-of-8 from the foul line.

Individually, junior guard Michelle Baker led the way for SJU with 12 points and seven assists, while classmate Katie Kuester added 11 points. Junior forward Kelly Cavallo finished with a team-high five rebounds and three blocked shots to go with 10 points.

Gotfrida added six points and four rebounds, while junior Samira Van Grinsven and sophomore Mireia Vila added six points apiece. Senior Dominique Bryant and freshman Erin Shields rounded out the scoring with five and four points, respectively.

Freshman guard Alyssa Baron led Penn with a game-high 16 points as the Quakers finished 15-of-49 for 30.6 percent.

Saint Joseph's returns home this Sunday as the Hawks host Villanova at 2 p.m.