PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's junior guard Ciara Andrews matched her career-high with 23 points as the Hawks topped Duquesne, 60-49, in their home finale Wednesday evening at Hagan Arena.
Looking for its third straight win and to avenge an earlier loss at Duquesne in January, Saint Joseph's (11-16, 7-8 Atlantic 10) controlled the pace from the early going, opening a 16-10 advantage on a jumper by Natasha Cloud just under eight minutes into the contest.
Duquesne (19-9, 11-4 A-10) cut the Hawks' lead to 21-18, but SJU answered with a 5-0 run as rookie Chelsea Woods put back an offensive rebound to make it 26-18.
Saint Joseph's would open a 10-point lead towards the end of the half, but the Dukes got the final two baskets of the half to make it a 34-28 advantage for the Hawks heading into the second half.
Led by a pair of baskets by junior Sarah Fairbanks, SJU quickly pushed its lead to 38-28 to start the half, but Duquesne slowly chipped away at it.
A 4-0 spurt midway through the final half brought the Dukes within a basket, 44-42, but Andrews helped the Hawks counter, scoring six points in an 8-3 run as she put her team up 52-45 on a jumper with 4:43 to play.
Duquesne would make it a 54-49 game with under two minutes to play, but a jumper by Fairbanks and four-straight free throws by Cloud closed out the win for Saint Joseph's.
As a team, the Hawks hit 27-of-66 from the floor (40.9 percent) and 6-of-9 from the foul line, but failed to convert from three-point range for the first time this year, going 0-for-3. Saint Joseph's made up for its lack of a perimeter punch by outscoring Duquesne 28-26 in the paint and out rebounding the Dukes 42-36.
Andrews, who was 11-of-23 from the floor and 1-of-3 from the foul line, added four rebounds, two steals and an assist in the winning effort, while Fairbanks tallied 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting and chipped in with nine boards, three steals, an assist and a blocked shot. Playing in her final home game, Cloud had a game-high nine assists to go with 12 points and five rebounds, while Woods finished with a team-best 10 rebounds to go with four points.
At the other end, Duquesne shot just 35.1 percent overall (20-of-57), hit 4-of-12 from three-point range and knocked down just 5-of-9 from the foul line. April Robinson led two Dukes in double figures with 15 points.
The Hawks cap the regular season Sunday at La Salle at 1 p.m.
Game Notes: Saint Joseph's finished with a 12-4 edge in fast break points...Graduate student Ashley Robinson had seven rebounds, four points, one assist and one block in her final home game...Rookie Adashia Franklyn addd three points and three rebounds...Sophomore Mackenzie Rule chipped in with an assist...The Hawks are now 25-0 all-time versus Duquesne on Hawk Hill.
