PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's women's basketball head coach Cindy Griffin earned her 300th career victory as the Hawks downed St. Bonaventure, 66-48, Saturday afternoon at Hagan Arena. Led by a game-high 17 points from junior Ciara Andrews, Saint Joseph's also snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 2-4 in the Atlantic 10 and 6-12 overall.
Trading the lead five times in the opening 15 minutes of the game, Saint Joseph's found itself down 23-19 with four minutes to go in the half, but gathered momentum from there to open a seven-point gap at halftime and pull away early in the second period.
Behind a 29-7 run that spanned both halves, the Hawks battled back from a four-point hole to open a 18-point edge. Sparked by a layup by Andrews, Saint Joseph's hit 10 of its next 17 shots to open a 48-30 edge on a three-pointer by Kathleen Fitzpatrick at 12:40.
On defense, the Hawks held St. Bonaventure in check during the run, allowing the visitors to make just three free throws and 1-for-9 from the floor.
St. Bonaventure (11-9, 1-6 A-10) came within 14 points, but got no closer as the Hawks would push their lead to as many as 20 before the final whistle.
With the win, Griffin improved to 300-211 over 17 seasons. Already the all-time leader in wins at Hawk Hill, she moved to 252-178 in 14 seasons at SJU.
Individually, Andrews added a career-high four steals to go with her 17 points, while graduate student Ashley Robinson added nine points, and nine rebounds. Redshirt sophomore guard Jordan Strode added a career-best nine points and five rebounds in a starting role, while senior Natasha Cloud had a game-high seven assists to go with six points and two blocked shots.
As a team, the Hawks shot 41.4 percent overall (24-for-58), hit 4-for-9 from three-point ranger and 14-for-21 from the foul line.
For St. Bonaventure, Katie Healy led the team with 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out. The Bonnies were held to just 31.9 percent shooting (15-for-47), including 23.1 percent in the second half (6-for-26).
The Hawks return to action Wednesday at Saint Louis. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
Game Notes: The Hawks are now 38-12 all-time versus St. Bonaventure...SJU had a season-high 26 points off the bench...The Hawks held a 39-35 edge in rebounding...Junior Sarah Fairbanks added eight points, six rebounds and two steals...Fitzpatrick added eight points, two assists and two steals...Rookie Adashia Franklyn had a game-high 10 rebounds and scored five points...Classmate Chelsea Woods had two points and a rebound...Sophomore Mackenzie Rule scored two points and had a rebound...Freshman Candace Belvedere played two minutes.
