Feb. 23, 2011

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's women's basketball team had its Philadelphia Big 5 title hopes dashed in the final 30 seconds as Temple topped the Hawks, 52-49, Wednesday evening at Hagan Arena. The Owls, who snapped SJU's five-game win streak and extended their own to 14 games, got a three pointer with Qwedia Wallace with 24 seconds to go to secure the win.

Down 47-38 with less than eight minutes to play, Saint Joseph's mustered an 8-0 run over the next six minutes to make it a 47-46 game. Sophomore Ashley Prim scored four of her team-high 12 points during the run and brought the Hawks within a point with 1:25 to go.

Temple's Wallace missed a jumper at the other end, but grabbed the rebound and got a new 30-second shot clock for the Owls. Following a Temple timeout, the Owls' Shey Peddy found Wallace open in the right corner for a three pointer with 24 seconds left to put Temple up 50-46.

Saint Joseph's (17-10, 7-6 Atlantic 10, 3-1 Big 5) missed a pair of attempts at the other end, with Peddy hitting two free throws to extend the Owls lead to 52-46 with eight seconds to go. The Hawks would get a deep three pointer from junior Katie Kuester with under a second to go, but the Owls quickly inbounded the ball and killed the remaining time to hold on for the win.

In the first half, the Hawks maintained control for the most part. Leading by as many as eight, Saint Joseph's took a 27-20 edge into the second half as it shot 44.0 percent from the floor (11-of-25), while holding Temple to 25.7 percent (9-of-35).

The Owls (22-6, 13-0 A-10, 4-0 Big 5) quickly took the lead in the second half, outscoring the Hawks 13-2 over the opening 4:43 to take a 33-29 lead on a jumper by Kristen McCarthy. Temple allowed SJU back within one twice, but opened the lead back to 47-38 before the final frantic minutes.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 21-of-49 from the floor (42.9 percent), 3-of-9 from three-point range and 4-of-7 from the foul line (57.1 percent). Individually, Prim had 12 points to go with a game-high five assists, while junior Kelly Cavallo was the only other Hawk in double figures, finishing with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

At the other end, McCarthy led three Owls in double figures with 16 points ad Temple finished the game 21-of-64 from the floor (32.8 percent), 1-of-10 from behind the arc and 9-of-4 from the foul line (64.3 percent). Temple finished with a 39-37 advantage on the boards, grabbing 16 rebounds at the offensive end, while causing 20 SJU turnovers on defense.

The Hawks cap the regular season Sunday at George Washington at noon. The game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports.