BRONX, N.Y. - Despite both teams shooting under 40 percent, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team couldn't get key stops when it needed it the most as the Hawks fell to Fordham, 57-47, Thursday at Rose Hill Gym.
Late in the second half, the Hawks used a 6-1 run to cut Fordham's 46-38 lead to 47-44 on a jumper by Natasha Cloud with 4:27 to play.
Saint Joseph's (5-11, 1-3 Atlantic 10), which gave up a Fordham free throw to make it 48-44, had three opportunities to make it a one possession game, but went 0-for-2 from the field and turned the ball over on an offensive foul as the Rams regained possession with 2:47 to play.
Unfortunately for SJU, after playing solid defense for most of the shot clock, Fordham's Danielle Burns knocked down a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to put her team ahead for good, 51-44.
Going just 3-of-13 to start, the Hawks found themselves down 14-7 to the Rams at the midway point of the half. Despite the cold shooting, Saint Joseph's responded, hitting seven of their next 11 field goals as a fast break jumper by Ciara Andrews brought her team within two, 24-22, with 2:38 to go in the half.
After a defensive stop, sophomore Kathleen Fitzpatrick took advantage of Fordham's foul trouble as she knocked down a one-and-one to tie the game at 24 all at 2:03.
The Rams would get a layup by Asnate Fomina with 27 seconds to go to put the hosts ahead 26-24 heading into the second half.
For the game, Saint Joseph's hit 19-of-50 from the floor, 2-of-8 from three-point range and 7-of-10 from the foul line.
Individually, Andrews and Fitzpatrick had 12 points apiece, while junior Sarah Fairbanks had 10 points in her return to the lineup. Senior Natasha Cloud finished with a team-best eight rebounds, three steals and three assists to go with seven points.
Fordham (12-5, 4-0 A-10) finished just 18-of-46 from the field (39.1 percent) and 4-of-16 from behind the arc, but knocked down 17-of-22 from the foul line (77.3 percent). Tiffany Ruffin had a game-high 16 points to pace the Rams.
Saint Joseph's returns to action Sunday at Duquesne. Game time is set for 4 p.m. and will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.
