RICHMOND, Va. - Taking control from the start and never trailing, the seventh seeded Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped the 10th seed George Mason Patriots, 71-43, Thursday afternoon in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Hawks (13-16) advance to face second seed Dayton at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in the Quarterfinals. That game will be televised nationally on ASN and broadcast online for free on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network.
Jumping out to a 15-6 advantage from the tip, Saint Joseph's defense proved problematic for the Patriots immediately. Holding George Mason to 2-of-8 from the floor to start, it was a sign of things to come as the Hawks held the Patriots just 31.5 percent shooting and a season-worst 43 points.
After seeing its lead cut to two, Saint Joseph's responded with a 9-0 run as freshman Adashia Franklyn put her team ahead 24-13 on a layup off the feed from junior Ciara Andrews.
George Mason came to within seven with 1:24 to play in the half, but four straight points from senior Natasha Cloud capped the period and gave the Hawks a 36-25 lead entering halftime.
Behind a 14-3 run to start the second half, Saint Joseph's built a 22-point lead, 50-28, and that but ended the Patriots' season. Allowing George Mason to go just 1-for-10 from the floor and causing four turnovers over the opening eight minutes, Saint Joseph's lead would dwindle to no less than 15 from there as nine of 10 Hawks finished with at least three points and one rebound.
For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 42.6 percent overall (26-of-61), hit 4-of-9 from three-point range and 15-of-16 from the foul line (93.8 percent). The Hawks additionally finished up 42-32 in rebounds, 36-14 in points in the paint and turned 15 George Mason turnovers in 16 points.
Individually, Andrews and Cloud each had 14 points, with Cloud finishing with a game-high seven assists. Freshman Chelsea Woods grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and added 12 points in a starting role.
At the other end, the A-10 scoring leader Taylor Brown finished well off her 21.8 points per game average as she was held to just 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
Game Notes: The Hawks have bested George Mason the past two seasons in the Second Round of the A-10 Championship...SJU finished with just eight turnovers...Graduate student Ashley Robinson finished with four points and three rebounds...junior Sarah Fairbanks added eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots...Sophomore Mackenzie Rule went 2-for-2 from three-point range for six points and had two assists...Franklyn tallied eight points and had seven rebounds to go with a blocked shot.
