PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team downed Eastern Illinois, 80-62, on Saturday at Hagan Arena to advance to the title game of the 24th Annual Hawk Classic.

Led by 22 points from junior Sarah Veilleux and 20 points and 11 rebounds from senior Chelsea Woods, the Hawks (4-0) will face Saint Peter's in Sunday's championship game at 4 p.m.

Opening the home portion of its schedule, SJU pulled ahead of the Panthers toward the end of the first quarter after a tight opening six minutes. Woods converted a three-point play with 2:40 to go in the period to cap a 10-2 run and give the Hawks a 19-11 advantage.

Up 46-28 to start the third quarter, Saint Joseph's saw its lead to four less than four minutes into the period. Hitting 5-of-9 from the field, including three three-pointers, Eastern Illinois cut its deficit to 46-42 on a jumper by Jennifer Nehls at 6:02.

Sparked by a Woods layup off a turnover, the Hawks countered with a 10-0 run that pushed their lead to 56-42 on a pair of Woods free throws at 2:18.

Saint Joseph's allowed Eastern Illinois to get no closer than nine points in the fourth quarter as the it picked up its fourth win of the season and advanced to the title game of the Hawk Classic for the 23rd time.

For the game, Saint Joseph's shot 53.3 percent from the field (32-of-60), 60.9 percent from the foul line (14-of-23) and hit 2-of-6 from three-point range.

Joining Veilleux and Woods in double figures was senior Adashia Franklyn who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

At the other end, Jennifer Nehls led Eastern Illinois with 13 points as the Panthers shot 37.7 percent from the floor (23-of-61), 53.3 percent from behind the arc (8-of-15) and hit 8-of-10 from the foul line.

Game Notes: SJU finished with 42-25 edge in rebounding...The Hawks tallied 50 points in the paint...Senior Amanda Fioravanti finished with six points, five rebounds and two assists...Junior Alyssa Monaghan added six points, four rebounds and three assists...Rookie Lula Roig had a season-best five points ...Graduate student Jaryn Garner had two points, two rebounds and a blocked shot...Freshman Mary Sheehan scored two points and had a rebound and a blocked shot...Junior Michala Clay scored two points, had two rebounds, an assist and a steal...Senior Avery marz had a rebound, steal and assists...Classmate Candace Belvedere added an assist and a rebound...Redshirt sophomore Whisper Fisher grabbed a rebound and had a steal...SJU is now 1-0 all-time versus Eastern Illinois.

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