PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's senior forward Sarah Fairbanks became the 24th player in Saint Joseph's women's basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career as she helped lead the Hawks to a 61-51 victory over Fordham on Wednesday evening at Hagan Arena.

Entering the contest 12 points shy of the milestone, Fairbanks went to work early scoring 11 of her 15 points in the first half as she helped Saint Joseph's keep a lead on the Rams throughout most the first half.

The Hawks (11-12, 5-6 Atlantic 10) pushed their lead to seven in the second quarter, 26-19, on a Fairbanks layup, but the Rams countered.

Behind a 6-0 run, Fordham came within a point, 26-25, on a jumper by Danielle Burns.

Saint Joseph's redshirt freshman Sarah Veilleux put an end to the run on a steal and layup for the final basket of the half, giving the host Hawks a 28-25 advantage.

Pushing the lead back to seven again, SJU saw it trimmed back to two, 36-34, as the Rams continued to answer every Hawk run.

Fairbanks helped the Hawks extend their lead to four with a pair of free throws with 5:12 to go in the quarter, hitting her 1,000th career point on the first foul shot.

However, the celebration didn't last long though as the Rams came within one, 38-37, on a three-point play by G'mrice Davis.

Holding onto a two-point lead heading into the final quarter, Saint Joseph's began to pull away from Fordham midway through the period. Up 47-45, sophomore guard/forward Chelsea Woods scored five of her 11 points in just over four minutes, with a three-point play extending the lead to 54-47 with 3:57 to play.

The Hawks' defense would not allow the Rams to get any closer than five from their as SJU avenged its earlier season loss to Fordham.

As a team, Saint Joseph's shot 45.5 percent from the field (25-of-55), hit 1-of-4 from three-point range and knocked down 10-of-15 free throws. Fairbanks added a team-best seven rebounds to go with three assists, while classmate Ciara Andrews tallied a team-high 16 points, with 14 coming in the second half. Woods was the third Hawk in double figures, tallying 11 points to go with six rebounds.

At the other end, Davis led all scorers with 19 points as Fordham was held to 35.1 percent shooting (20-of-57), 18.2 percent from behind the arc (2-of-11), but hit 9-of-10 free throws.

Saint Joseph's returns to action this Saturday at #24 Duquesne. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

Game Notes: The Hawks are 1-1 versus Fordham this season after falling 47-40 on January 17, 2016 to the Rams...Fairbanks is now just the second player in SJU hisotry with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots, joining current assistant coach Stephanie McCaffrey...Amanda Fioravanti added eight points and a game-high three blocked shots...Kathleen Fitzpatrick scored five points...Adashia Franklyn scored four points and had two blocked shots...Veilleux had two pointsand two rebounds...Alyssa Monaghan added a steal...Jordan Strode grabbed two rebounds...Jazmin Horne played six minutes.