Feb. 2, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Celebrating her 21st birthday, junior Ayahna Cornish celebrated in style as the 5-foot-9 guard nailed a buzzer-beater to force overtime, then, behind a team-high 18 points, led the Saint Joseph's women's basketball to a 70-57 overtime win over Fordham at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Hawks trailed by eight, 52-44, with 3:48 remaining in the contest, before roaring back to tie the game and force overtime. Saint Joseph's used a 9-1 run over the next 3:05, tying the score at 53 apiece on a three-point play by Cornish with 43 seconds remaining.

The Rams regained their lead 16 seconds later, as Jada Jefferson's layup with 27 seconds left gave Fordham a 55-53 edge.

On the ensuing play, sophomore guard Timisha Gomez missed an open shot from the foul line with 12 seconds remaining as the ball bounced out of bounce.

Following a deflection off the Hawks and out of bounds, Fordham attempted to get the ball to Jefferson at half court, but the ball tipped off her hands and out with 3.2 seconds left.

Trailing by two, the Hawks inbounded the ball to freshman center Hillary Klimowicz's at half court, who found Cornish streaking down the right side. Cornish pulled up from about 12 feet out and banked home the tying bucket as the buzzer sounded.

In the overtime session, Saint Joseph's was dominant, scoring the first nine points to take a 64-55 edge on a pair of Klimowicz free throws with 58 seconds remaining.

The Hawks would score six of the next eight points to earn the come-from-behind win.

In the first half, Saint Joseph's jumped out quickly and led by as many as 13, 15-2, to start the game.

The Hawks, who held the Rams to 21.4 percent from the floor in the first half, took a 24-17 lead into the half.

In the second half, Fordham used a 13-3 run to go from trailing 30-23, to a 36-33 lead at 11:18 on a three pointer by Lisa Carrol.

Saint Joseph's would tie the game at 44, before the Rams opened up their 52-44 edge. For the game, the Hawks finished 31.3 percent from the field (20-of-64) and 25-of-30 from the free throw line (83.3 percent). Fordham finished 19-of-61 for 31.1 percent and 14-of-19 from the charity stripe (73.7 percent).

Individually, Cornish led the Hawks with 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists, while classmate Whitney Ffrench added 12 points. Klimowicz added a team-high 13 rebounds and added nine points.

For Fordham, Carrol scored a game high 19, while Jefferson added 15 points and a career-best 17 rebounds.

With the victory, the Hawks improved to 15-6 overall and 7-3 in the Atlantic 10 play, while Fordham fell to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the A-10.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Sunday when it travels to Massachusetts for a 2 p.m. start.