Nov. 10, 2011

PRINCETON - The anticipation ends at 7 p.m. this Friday as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team opens the 2011-12 season on the road at Princeton. Coming off two-straight postseason appearances, the Hawks return all five starters and 11 letterwinners from a season ago as they look to earn the program's first NCAA bid since 1999.

Saint Joseph's Game Notes

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GAME STORIES . . .
• Saint Joseph's opens the 2011-12 season at Princeton on Friday, marking the fourth time in the last five years the Hawks have began the year on the road.
• The Hawks are 27-11 all-time in season openers, which includes last year's 64-49 victory over Providence at Hagan Arena.
• Saint Joseph's has posted a 25-13 record in road openers, while going 8-4 when the season-opening game is on the road. Two of those four losses came against nationally ranked teams (86-59 loss at No. 3 Rutgers on November 14, 2008; 108-63 loss at No. 1 Tennessee on November 16, 1998).
• The Hawks enter Friday's contest with a 9-0 series record against Princeton. Saint Joseph's won in dramatic fashion last year, topping the Tigers 70-61 in double overtime on December 19 at Hagan Arena.
• Princeton is one of seven NCAA Tournament teams the Hawks will face this year. SJU will also play Maryland, UCLA, Saint Francis - Pa., Dayton, Temple and Xavier.
• Saint Joseph's was picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 according to a preseason poll of conference officials and media.
• Cindy Griffin begins her 11th season as head coach at Saint Joseph's. She is third all-time in SJU history in wins with 178 and has won 229 games over 13 seasons.

BAKER AND KUESTER TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS IN 2011-12
Seniors Michelle Baker and Katie Kuester will serve as captains for the Hawks during the 2011-12 season. Kuester was one of two captains a season ago, while Baker is in her first year of captaincy.

HAWKS ADD FOUR NEWCOMERS IN 2011-12
Saint Joseph's will have four new faces for 2011-12 with the addition of senior Chatilla van Grinsven, junior Kelsey Berger, sophomore Natasha Cloud and freshman Mariah Lesure. Berger, Cloud and Chatilla van Grinsven will sit out the 2011-12 season per NCAA transfer rules as the trio come to Hawk Hill from Air Force, Maryland and Colorado State, respectively.

BAKER NAMED TO ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON TEAMS
Senior guard Michelle Baker was selected to both the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Leading the Hawks in scoring (12.2 ppg) and tallying the most points by a Hawk since 2006-07, she anchored Saint Joseph's defense, and earned A-10 All-Defensive Team honors last year after helping the Hawks limit opponents to just 58.6 points per game.

KUESTER SJU'S ALL-TIME LEADER IN FREE THROW
Senior Katie Kuester enters her final season as a Hawk as the program's all-time leader in free throw percentage. Knocking down 95 of 110 shots for 86.4 percent, she is coming off a career-best 70 free throws made last year.

CAVALLO RANKS AMONG ALL-TIME BLOCKS LEADERS
With 74 career blocked shots to her credit, senior Kelly Cavallo enters the 2011-12 season ninth in program history with 74 career rejections. The starting forward is coming off a career-high 45 blocks a year ago.

THE HAWKS' IRONWOMAN
Senior guard Michelle Baker has been the Hawks' Ironwoman since 2008-09. Beginning as a freshman, Baker has appeared in every game for SJU, making 43 starts in 94 career games. She is currently averaging 8.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for her career.

SHIELDS AND PRIM POST FORMIDABLE DUO
Having the option of junior Ashley Prim or sophomore Erin Shields run the point is a welcomed opportunity for the Hawks. Combining for 197 of the team's 475 assists last year, the duo were terrific with the ball in 2010-11 posting a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Samira van Grinsven NEARS 1,000 CAREER POINT MARK
Senior Samira van Grinsven enters the 2011-12 season just 48 points shy of 1,000 for her career. Tallying 229 points in her first year as a Hawk last year, the 6-foot-3 center previously scored 723 points over two years at Casper College.

ROBINSON TO MAKE HAWK DEBUT
After missing both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons due to injuries, redshirts sophomore Ashley Robinson will make her SJU debut this Friday at Princeton. An All-Catholic League star at Archbishop Wood High School, Robinson averaged a double-double as a senior (15.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
Saint Joseph's 10 wins against non-conference opponents last year was the third most in team history since the Hawks joined the Atlantic 10. The Hawks's record for non-conference wins is 17, set during the 1984-85 season, with SJU winning 14 games the previous year in 1983-84.

SCHOLARLY SMITH
A standout on the court and the classroom, junior Shelby Smith is one of just two Hawks in program history to earn Philadelphia Big 5 All-Academic Team. The finance major is also a member of both the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and SJU Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

FOREIGN-BORN HAWKS
Senior forward Chatilla van Grinsven is the 14th foreign-born student-athlete to play for Saint Joseph's. Chatilla joins her sister, Samira, junior Mireia Vila and sophomore Ilze Gotfrida mark for most foreign-born Hawks on a team, surpassing t the 2001-02, 2003-04 and 2010-11 squads.

EFFICIENT CAVALLO
Senior Kelly Cavallo posted one of the efficient offensive season in program history in 2010-11. Hitting 116 of 189 shots, Cavallo posted SJU's second-best single-season field goal percentage at .614. For her career, she is shooting .581 from the floor (162 of 279).

VILA HELPS SPAIN TO GOLD AT U-20 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Junior Mireia Vila capped a stellar summer in style, helping her Spanish squad to the 2011 FIBA U20 European Championships. Appearing in seven games, and averaging 19.1 minutes per contests, Vila helped Spain to a 62-53 victory over Russia in the championship game.

THE FAST BREAK
• Sophomore Ilze Gotfrida (Latvia) and Chatilla van Grinsven also competed for the national team at this past summer's U-20 FIBA European Championships.
• Chatilla van Grinsven, Samira van Grinsven and Mireia Vila are three of just four players to play for SJU with a "V" last name.
• John McCray, a 2011 graduate of Ohio State, is in his first year as graduate assistant at Saint Joseph's.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Hawks open the home portion of their schedule this Sunday against Lehigh. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at Hagan Arena with live streaming available on www.sjuhawks.com.