March 6, 2010

Box Score

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Saint Joseph's guard Amy Gillespie hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, forcing overtime in Saturday's Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinal game against Charlotte. Unfortunately for the Hawks, they couldn't get a second buzzer beater to fall as senior guard Mariame Djouara's jumper was off the mark and the 49ers held on for the 87-85 overtime win.

Trailing 74-71, the Hawks turned the ball over with 33 seconds to go. Saint Joseph's fouled Charlotte's Shannon McCallum immediately, sending her to the line for a pair of free throws.

The junior guard missed both foul shots, giving the Hawks an opportunity to tie. Saint Joseph's grabbed an offensive rebound and called a time out off a three-point miss, setting up a frantic final :08.8.

Out of the timeout, sophomore guard Katie Kuester got a clean look from three on the left wing, but the ball missed its mark, leading to a long rebound. The Hawks, who didn't have an offensive rebound until its final possession, got one from center Ashley Logue at the foul line. The senior found Gillespie open on the right wing, with her shot finding nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.

Looking to carry momentum into the extra frame, Charlotte quickly grabbed the lead and led 86-80 with 1:08 to go. But it was Gillespie who sparked SJU, nailing a three pointer with 43 second left.

Following a missed shot, Charlotte fouled Saint Joseph's freshman guard Shelby Smith instead of allowing SJU a chance to tie. Smith made both, making it an 86-85 game with 10.1 second to go.

Aysha Jones made the first of two free throws, but missed the second as Djouara grabbed the rebound. Looking to extend the game, Djouara's runner from the lane hit the rim, but couldn't hang on, falling off at the buzzer as 49ers survived.

In the first half Saint Joseph's asserted itself early, taking a 25-16 lead on a pair of free throws by senior forward Brittany Ford at 9:25. The Hawks took advantage of early foul trouble by Charlotte as SJU began shooting bonus free throws at the 12:36 mark.

Ford would set SJU history a couple minutes later, becoming the 20th player in team history to score 1,000 points on a layup at 7:42 to give SJU a 27-21 advantage.

Charlotte controlled the remaining time though, outscoring Saint Joseph's 19-4. The 49ers caused eight Hawks turnovers, including four in the final minute to finish the opening half on an 8-0 run and take a 40-31 lead into the final half.

In the second half, Saint Joseph's chipped away at Charlotte's lead, having several opportunities to tie the game, but failing to convert until the final moments.

As a team, the Hawks (17-14) shot 54.5 percent from the field (30-of-55), 63.6 percent from three-point range (7-of-11) and set a single-game record from the foul line, going 18-of-18.

Individually, Logue scored 17 points and had eight rebounds, while Djouara finished with 15 points and four assists. Ford, who stand now 20th all-time with 1,005 points, added 13 points and a pair of blocks, with Gillespie knocking down four triples for 12 points.

Junior Dominique Bryant led the Hawks' with 10 rebounds and had nine points, with sophomore Katie Kuester scoring seven points off the bench. Sophomore Michelle Baker scored six points, with Ashley Prim and Shelby Smith rounding out SJU's scoring with four points and two pints respectively.

At the other end, Charlotte (17-12) got 19 points from Kendria Holmes and 18 points from Aysha Jones as the 49ers finished just 29-of-73 from the floor (39.7 percent), but shot 36 free throws to the Hawks 18.