Feb. 4, 2007

Box Score

KINGSTON, RI - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team withheld a late charge from Rhode Island to earn a 73-70 win at the Ryan Center Sunday afternoon.

Leading 63-53 with 2:27 remaining in the game, the Hawks saw their lead evaporate over the next 1:45 as Rhode Island outscored SJU 14-4 over that span. A three pointer by the Rams' Safi Mojidi tied the game at 67 with 42 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, the Hawks broke Rhode Island's pressure and sophomore guard Jenna Loschiavo buried a wide-open three pointer to put SJU up 70-67 with 35 seconds left.

Following a pair of SJU free throws, Mojidi drained a deep three pointer to cut the deficit to 72-70 with seven seconds remaining.

Saint Joseph's senior guard Ayahna Cornish would make one of two free throws, giving URI a chance to tie.

Fortunately for the Hawks, their tough pressure forced a prayer attempt by Mojidi that fell well short of its mark.

The Rams started out hot, making four of their first five shots and taking a 13-2 edge on a Jessica Magely layup at the 16:38 mark.

Despite a slow beginning, in which they shot 0-of-4, the Hawks responded with 11-straight points over the next 4:37, tying the game at 13 on a pair of free throws by Cornish.

Saint Joseph's gained its first lead of the game with 4:56 remaining in the half as sophomore guard Jen Oyler put back a missed three pointer, putting her team up 23-21.

The teams exchanged baskets over the next three minutes, as the Hawks held a 27-26 edge with under a minute to play. In the final two SJU possessions, Cornish would go 1-of-2 from the foul line and add a layup off an inbound with 0.4 seconds remaining to put her team up 30-26 at the half.

After a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes of the first half, Saint Joseph's opened its biggest lead, 55-44, with 5:09 remaining.

Saint Joseph's kept its lead until the frantic final minutes, in which it held on for its second straight win.

For the game, the Hawks went 19-of-49 from the floor (38.8 percent), 7of-23 from behind the arc (30.4 percent) and 28-of-35 from the foul line (80 percent). At the other end, Rhode Island finished 26-of-62 from the field (41.9 percent), 8-of-16 from three-point range and 10-of-14 from the foul line (71.4 percent).

Individually, Cornish led the Hawks with 25 points, while Loschiavo was the only other Hawk in double figures with 15.

Mojidi finished with a game-high 33 in a losing effort for Rhode Island.

With the win, the Hawks improve to 13-9 on the year and 5-3 in Atlantic 10 play. Rhode Island falls to 6-17 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Thursday, February 8 as the Hawks host Xavier at 7 p.m.