PHILADELPHIA - Senior Ciara Andrews and sophomore Chelsea Woods combined for 47 points to lead the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team's 70-67 comeback victory at Temple Sunday afternoon.
Down 57-48 early in the fourth quarter, the Hawks put together a 14-3 run over a six minute span that saw senior Sarah Fairbanks give SJU its first lead of the game on a layup at 3:18. Andrews and Woods combined for 12 of their team's 14 points, while the Hawks defense held Temple to 1-of-5 from the field and caused three turnovers as the visitors surged ahead 62-60.
The lead would change hands five times from there, with Temple taking a 67-66 lead on a jumper by Feyonda Fitzgerald with 31.8 seconds to go.
Out of a timeout, Saint Joseph's was a aggressive as Woods got the ball at the top of the key and made her way through traffic for an acrobatic layup with 21.3 seconds to go to put her team ahead 68-67.
Temple (2-3, 1-1 Big 5) would have a chance to regain the lead though, but the Hawks' defense stifled the Owls, causing a turnover.
Andrews was fouled out of an in-bound play and calmly hit a pair of free throws with four seconds to play to extend the Hawks lead.
A desperation three-pointer by Temple as time expired was off the mark as SJU picked up its first victory of the season and 44th all-time against Temple.
After a fast-paced first quarter that had Temple ahead 24-17, the pace slowed in the next two stanzas. The Owls, who led by as many as 14 in the third quarter, took a 54-46 lead into the final 10 minutes before SJU erased it.
For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 41.4 percent from the filed (24-of-58), connected on 2-of-9 from three-point range and converted 20-of-25 free throws.
Andrews finished the day with a career-best 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 11 of-13 free throws. Woods, who was 7-of-9 overall and 6-of-8 from the foul line, also added a game-high 12 rebounds and three steals.
At the other end, Temple shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-of-56) and hit 5-of-13 from behind the arc (38.5 percent), but hit just 10-of-17 from the foul line (58.8 percent). Fitzgerald led three Temple players in double figures with 19 points.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Game time is set for 11 a.m.
