PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team dropped a tight contest to Rutgers, 78-65, Friday evening at Hagan Arena. The Hawks got a team-best 14 points from senior Ciara Andrews, while junior Amanda Fioravanti posted a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in her SJU debut.
Coming out of halftime with the lead, the Scarlet Knights scored five of the first six points, stretching their edge to 49-40 with 7:56 to go in the stanza. However, a layup by senior Sarah Fairbanks kicked off a 12-2 run that saw the Hawks take the lead, 52-51, with five minutes remaining in the third.
With the score at 50-44 in favor of Rutgers, Alyssa Monaghan and Kathleen Fitzpatrick hit back-to-back three-pointers to draw the Hawks level. After a free throw by Khadaizha Sanders put the Scarlet Knights back on top, Andrews drove for a layup to give the Hawks their first lead of the night.
SJU extended the lead to three at 56-53 on a tip-in by Fitzpatrick with 1:19 on the clock, but the Scarlet Knights scored the final six points of the quarter to take a 59-56 lead.
Rutgers eventually stretched the run to 12-0 to take a 65-56 lead with 8:17 to go in the game. Woods ended the RU spurt with a steal and a transition layup, getting the Hawks back within seven at 65-58 with 7:17 remaining, but that would be as close as they'd get.
In the first half, Rutgers jumped out to a 15-5 advantage just over five minutes into the first quarter as it hit two of its game-high eight three-pointers during that stretch.
Saint Joseph's (0-1) slowly chipped away at the deficit as five-straight points from Fitzpatrick halfway through the second quarter brought the Hawks to within one, 36-35.
The Scarlet Knights (1-0), who converted eight of 12 from three-point range, answered with back-to-back threes before a jumper by Andrews ended the second half to bring SJU within five, 44-39.
For the game, Saint Joseph's hit 24-of-53 from the field (45.3 percent), 3-of-12 from behind the arc and 14-of-24 from the foul line. The Hawks finished with a 32-26 edge in scoring in the paint and tallied 20 points off of 18 Rutgers turnovers.
Individually, Fitzpatrick and Chelsea Woods also finished in double figures for the Hawks with 10 points a piece, while Monaghan had a team-high five assists to go with five points in her collegiate debut.
At the other end, Kahleah Copper tallied a game-high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds and four steals to lead Rutgers. Tyler Scaife was the only other Scarlet Knight in double figures, finishing with 24 points as Rutgers finished the game shooting 54 percent from the floor (27-of-50).
Saint Joseph's returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Seton Hall at 2 p.m.
Game Notes: Fioravanti also added four steals, two assists and a block...Junior Jazmin Horne started in her Hawk debut and finished with two points and an assist...Sophomore Adashia Franklyn scored six points and had a pair of rebounds.
