GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A second-half rally came up short as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fell to Princeton, 63-54, in the semifinals of the Gator Holiday Classic on Wednesday afternoon at the Exactech Arena on the campus of the University of Florida.

The Hawks (5-6) will play host Florida in the third place contests at noon on Thursday.

Down by as many as 13 in the third quarter, the Hawks battled back to make it a two-point game in the final minute of the period. Falling behind 37-24, Saint Joseph's used a 16-5 run to make it 42-40 on a pair of free throws by senior Chelsea Woods with 28 seconds left in the third.

However, Princeton (8-3) ended the third on a Carlie Littlefield layup that sparked a 10-0 run by the Tigers as they opened a 52-40 lead with 7:18 to play.

Saint Joseph's freshman Mary Sheehan capped a 9-0 run to bring her team to within 52-49 with 5:14 to play, but that would be as close as the Hawks would come.

In a back-and-forth first half, the Hawks took a 20-19 lead with 5:45 left in the second quarter on a layup by senior Amanda Fioravanti. 

From there though, SJU's offense went cold as it shot 0-of-9 from the field for the remainder of the period, while the Tigers scored eight-straight points to take a 27-20 lead into halftime.

Princeton carried the momentum into the second half as it scored the first six points of the third quarter to open a 13-point lead, before the Hawks battled back to make it a one possession game in the final moments of the quarter.

For the game, SJU shot 43.1 percent from the floor (22-of-51), 28.6 percent from three-point range (4-of-14) and 6-of-10 from the foul line. Fioravanti led two Hawks in double figures with 17 points and added seven rebounds, while junior Sarah Veilleux added 12 points and six rebounds.

At the other end, Bella Alarie led three Tigers in double figures with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Princeton shot 45.3 percent from the floor (24-of-53), 38.5 percent from behind the arc (5-of-13) and 76.9 percent from the foul line (10-of-13).

Game Notes: SJU finished with a 35-29 edge...Junior Alyssa Monaghan added nine points, six rebounds and four assists...Woods chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds...Sheehan scored five points and added a block in a career-high 16 minutes...Senior Adashia Franklyn became the fourth Hawk in program history to reach 100 career blocks as she finished with a rejection, two points and four rebounds...Junior Kristalyn Baisden added an assist...Redshirt sophomore Whisper Fisher played four minutes...Senior Avery Marz played three minutes.

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