PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's sophomore guard/forward Chelsea Woods matched her career-high with 20 points, but it wasn't enough as the Hawks fell to Dayton, 71-61, Sunday evening at Hagan Arena.
For the third straight game, the Hawks battled back from a double-digit deficit to make it a one-possession game in the final quarter.
Down 49-39 in the third quarter, Saint Joseph's (9-10, 3-4 Atlantic 10) went on a 14-6 run that spanned into the fourth period. Backed by nine points from Woods, the Hawks came within two, 55-53, on a three-pointer by Alyssa Monaghan with 6:52 to play.
Holding a 59-56 edge on Saint Joseph's, the Flyers (9-9, 2-5 A-10) scored five-straight points to open a 64-56 advantage with 1:31 to go.
The Hawks would get no closer than six from there.
In the first half, Dayton jumped out to a 29-15 lead early into the second quarter, but SJU answered from deep to cut it to 31-27. Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Alyssa Monaghan and Mackenzie Rule each buried three-pointers, with a second three-pointer from Fitzpatrick brining the Hawks back to within striking distance.
Dayton would push back with six straight points and would hold SJU at a distance until the final quarter.
For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 19-of-53 from the field (35.8 percent), 6-of-15 from three-point range and hit 17-of-25 from the foul line (68 percent). Woods added a team-best seven rebounds as she hit 20 points for the second straigth game. Senior Sarah Fairbanks was the only other Hawk in double figures as she finished with 14 points, six rebounds and a team-best three assists.
Lauren Cannatelli led four Flyers in double figures with 24 points as Dayton shot 24-of-57 overall (42.1 percent), 5-of-13 from behind the arc (38.5 percent) and 18-of-23 from the foul line (78.3 percent).
Saint Joseph's returns to action Wednesday at St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m.
Game Notes: The game will air on tape delay at 10:30 p.m. Sunday on CBS Sports Network...SJU finished with a 36-25 edge in rebounding...The Hawks turned the ball over 24 times, leading to 22 points by Dayton...Monaghan adde seven points and five rebounds...Fitzpatrick finished with six points and two rebounds...Rule added four points, two rebounds and a steal...Sophomore Sarah Veilleux tallied five points and had two assists...Ciara Andrews finished with two points...Amanda Fioravanti added three points and a rebound...Adashia Franklyn grabbed a pair of rebounds and had a steal and assist.
