PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's women's basketball stumbled in its home finale on Wednesday evening, dropping a narrow 62-57 contest to Fordham inside Hagan Arena.
The Hawks are now 25-4 (14-3 Atlantic 10) on the year, while Fordham moves to 13-15 and 8-9 in conference play.
FIRST QUARTER
- The Hawks started the game with a pair of turnovers, recovering to score on five consecutive possessions to go on an 11-0 spurt after a quick 4-0 lead from the Rams.
- Fordham responded with the next six points before Mackenzie Smith and Emy Hayford traded buckets, the Hawks leading 13-12 after one quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
- St. Joe's recorded points on the first two possessions before an old-fashioned three-point play from Fordham notched the game at 17-17.
- After Smith recorded an uncontested layup after the Hawks broke the Fordham press, the visitors answered with back-to-back buckets to regain the advantage.
- The Hawks pulled back to level the score after Talya Brugler scored through contact before knocking down the free throw to complete the three-point play.
- The Rams had the last attack as the league's leading scorer Taylor Donaldson banked home a bucket from midrange as time was winding down to take a 28-26 lead into the lockers.
THIRD QUARTER
- Fordham continued the momentum ending the first half with an 8-2 run to open play in the third quarter.
- After a Hawk timeout, St. Joe's responded with seven points in a row to cut the deficit to one.
- Smith scored 10 points in just over three minutes of play, a three-pointer with 3:33 tying the contest at 40-40. The junior would grab her 20th point of the day late in the third, the Hawks entering the final 10 minutes with a 45-44 lead.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Smith continued her strong second half with three of five points for the Hawks to extend the advantage to 50-44.
- Over the course of the quarter, Fordham chipped away at the lead as the Hawks led 57-56 with a minute to play.
- The visitors grabbed possession with over 30 seconds left, Donaldson finding enough space to launch a three as the guard buried it from the corner to put the Rams up by two.
- St. Joe's was unable to grab a basket on the other end, forced into extending the game by fouling. Fordham made the free throws count to upset the Hawks in a 62-57 win.
GAME NOTES
- Mackenzie Smith led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 10-15 from the field. The Canadian also added a team-high six rebounds and three steals.
- Talya Brugler finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists on the evening.
- The Hawks shot 23-55 (41.8%) from the field, just 4-18 (22.2%) from distance.
- Fordham finished 26-59 (44.1%) from the floor, the only two of its 15 makes from distance coming in the fourth quarter.
- The Hawks were outrebounded 37-31 on the evening.
UP NEXT
The Hawks conclude the regular season with a meeting at Duquesne on Saturday, March 2. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.
