Feb. 13, 2013

Box Score

PITTSBURGH - Behind key free throws at the end of regulation and overtime, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team downed Duquesne, 69-68, Wednesday evening at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

Tied 56-56 at the start of overtime, the Hawks would hit a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line en route to the win.

Trailing 66-62 with just under two minutes remaining in overtime, redshirt senior Chatilla van Grinsven put up a layup and redshirt sophomore Natasha Cloud found junior Erin Shields for a fastbreak three-pointer to put the Hawks up by one, 67-66.

Duquesne (19-5, 8-2 A-10) responded with a layup with 34 seconds left, but van Grinsven was fouled in the paint and hit both of her free throws to put the Hawks back up, 69-68.

With 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime, Duquesne's Jocelyn Floyd attempted a layup that was blocked out of bounds by Cloud. April Robinson forced a buzzer shot from the right baseline that would prove to be short, sealing the victory for the Hawks.

Saint Joseph's (17-6, 8-1 A-10) led 52-43 with 4:36 remaining in the game, but the Dukes went on a 10-0 run to take a 53-52 lead at the 2:31 mark.

A layup by van Grinsven and a successful conversion on the tail end of a pair of Duquesne free throws tied the game at 54 apiece. Floyd then hit a layup to give the Dukes a 56-54 lead with 25 seconds remaining in regulation.

Cloud was then fouled with 7.1 seconds left and drained both free throws to send the game into overtime.

The Hawks came out of the gates slow, hitting just 1-of-11 to start the game as Duquesne opened up an 11-4 lead.

Saint Joseph's countered though with a 9-0 run as van Grinsven's three-point play gave the Hawks a 13-11 edge with 9:42 left in the first.

The Dukes responded, taking a 22-18 advantage on a three-pointer with 6:30 left in the half.

From there though, the Hawks took control. Behind a 17-1 run, Saint Joseph's opened its biggest lead of the half that concluded with a pair of free throws by freshman center Sarah Fairbanks with 32.7 seconds remaining. The Hawks took a 35-25 lead into halftime as they hit their final 11-of-15 field goals to end the half.

The Hawks shot 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the free-throw line and held the Dukes to just 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the floor.

van Grinsven led all scorers with 19 points, shooting 6-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the line, and added 15 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. Cloud registered 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a near-perfect 6-of-7 from the free throw line to go with four rebounds and a game-leading five assists while Shields posted 12 points.

The Hawks return to action on Sunday, February 17, when they will host cross-city rival Temple at Hagan Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.