BETHLEHEM, Pa. - A three-point play by senior guard Ciara Andrews with eight seconds remaining lifted the Saint Joseph's women basketball team to a 63-62 victory at Lehigh on Wednesday afternoon.
Up 55-44 with 6:11 to go, the Hawks (2-3) slowly saw their lead disappear as Lehigh posted a 15-3 run over the next five minutes as a pair of free throws by Quinci Mann put the Mountain Hawks up 59-58 with under a minute to play.
Andrews answered with a jumper from the top of the key with 41 seconds to go, but Mann gave Lehigh the lead again with a banked three-pointer to make it 62-60 20 seconds later.
With time running out, Andrews got the ball on the left wing and drove to the hoop drawing contact and making the basket to tie the game at 62-62 with eight second to go. She calmly converted the free throw to give the Hawks the lead again, 63-62.
Out of a Mountain Hawks timeout, Hailey Pascoe's shot was off the mark, but SJU was called for traveling with 1.1 second to go after grabbing the defensive rebound. Off of an inbounds play from the baseline, Lehigh's Kerry Kinek's shot failed to fall, giving SJU its second straight victory.
After a tight first three quarters in which neither team could get ahead by more than six, the Hawks began to pull away early in the fourth period. Ahead 45-42 to start, Saint Joseph's used a 10-2 run to start the final stanza as Alyssa Monaghan found Jordan Strode for a fast-break layup to make it 55-44.
From there, the Mountain Hawks (6-2) erased SJU's advantage, leading to the frantic final minute.
For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 39.4 percent overall (26-of-66), 30.8 percent from three-point range and hit 7-of-14 from the foul line. Senior Sarah Fairbanks posted a team-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while Andrews was the only other Hawk in double figures, finishing with 12. Sophomore Chelsea Woods had a team-best 11 rebounds and added eight points.
At the other end, Lehigh was held to 36.2 percent overall (21-of-58) and 30.8 percent from behind the arc (4-of-13) and knocked down just 16-of-25 from the foul line (64 percent). Mann finished with a game-high 20 points.
Saint Joseph's returns to action Saturday at Hofstra at 2 p.m.
Game Notes: The Hawks finished with a 45-38 edge in rebounding and got 20 points from their bench...Kathleen Fitzpatrick finished with eight points, while Strode added seven...Rookie Michala Clay scored four points and had four rebounds...Monaghan added five points, four rebounds and three assists...Junior Amanda Fioravanti scored three points and had four rebounds...Sophomore Adashia Franklyn grabbed four rebounds and had one point...Junior Jazmin Horne added two assists, while classmate Mackenzie Rule added an assist...Freshman Kristalyn Baisden also saw action...SJU is now 10-3 overall versus Lehigh.
