Nov. 14, 2012

Box Score

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PHILADELPHIA - Junior guard Erin Shields' three-pointer at the buzzer lifted the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team to a 47-45 victory at Drexel Wednesday evening at the Daskalakis Center. Down by as many as eight in the second half, the Hawks fought back behind Shields' team-high 18 points to earn their first victory of the season.

Trailing 39-32 with under 11 minutes to go, Saint Joseph's (1-1) fought back to take its first lead of the second half on a jumper in the lane by Shields at 1:09.

Drexel (1-1) responded as Hollie Marshon scored two of her game-high 19 points on a short jump shot with 26 seconds remaining.

Saint Joseph's had a chance to regain the lead in the final 20 seconds only to have a shot by sophomore Natasha Cloud glance off the backboard and out of play, giving Drexel possession with 10.4 seconds left.

On the inbound, SJU's senior guard Ashley Prim stole the ball in the right corner, and had it knocked out of play. With the ball inbounded off the sideline, Prim got the ball and drove down the left lane, only to have her shot tipped out of bounds with 1.6 seconds to go.

Following a tipped ball that got possession back to SJU, the Hawks' Cloud found Shields coming off a pick on the right wing with 0.09 seconds to go. Catching in rhythm, Shields released a deep three with 0.01 seconds to go that splashed through the net at the buzzer to give her team the win.

In the first half, the Hawks gained momentum from the start running out to a 12-3 lead on a three-pointer by redshirt senior forward Chatilla van Grinsven at 15:48.

Drexel fought back to tie the game at 16-16 as Taylor Wooton capped a 13-4 run with a short jumper in the lane at 11:08.

Saint Joseph's responded to regain the lead, but the host Dragons answered back to take their first lead of the game. Down 24-23, Drexel used a 9-0 run to open up a 32-24 advantage on a jumper by Abby Redick with 2:33 to go in the half. The Hawks scored the final three points of the half to cut the deficit to 32-27 at halftime.

For the game, the Hawks hit just 32.1 percent from the floor (18-of-56), but got 18 points from Shields and 12 points and eight rebounds from van Grinsven. Cloud finished the day with nine points, nine rebounds and five assists, while junior forward Ilze Gotfrida and redshirt junior Kelsey Berger capped the scoring with seven points and one point each.

At the other end, Drexel cooled in the second half, shooting 24 percent (6-of-25) in the second half and 38.3 percent overall (18-of-47) after hitting on 54.5 percent (12-of-22) in the first half.

The Hawks return to action this Saturday when they host nationally ranked Maryland. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at Hagan Arena.

Games Notes: The Hawks outrebounded Drexel 38-31, including 16 offensive rebounds...Prim added four assists and three rebounds...Just five Hawks scored on the day, with the starters accounting for 46 points...Gotfrida played a game and career-high 38 minutes...Photos from tonight's game are available at www.sidephotos.com.