Hawks Down Fordham 54-43 at Atlantic 10 Championship; Advance to Face Xavier Saturday

March 3, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championships after downing the 12-th seeded Fordham Rams 54-43 Friday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The Hawks face the fourth seed Xavier tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Trailing 24-23 early in the second half, the Hawks used a 6-0 run to open a 29-24 advantage over the Rams. A layup by senior forward Faith Schutte capped the run at 11:57.

Leading by six, 42-37, with 4:21 remaining, Saint Joseph's went on an 8-1 run to open its biggest lead of the game, 12. A pair of free throws by junior guard Whitney Ffrench with 1:05 remaining all but sealed the victory for the Hawks.

"It's always great to get that first win under you belt," said Saint Joseph's Head Coach Cindy Griffin. "We played really good defense today and will need to play really well tomorrow."

In the first half, both teams struggled throughout as Saint Joseph's clung to a 19-18 edge at the half. The Hawks finished just 8-of-30 (26.7 percent), while the Rams shot 28.0 percent (7-of-25).

Fordham opened a four-point edge, 13-9 at the midway point of the first stanza, but the Hawks responded with a 10-3 run to take a 19-16 lead on a Schutte jumpshot with 46 seconds remaining.

The Rams added a pair of free throws to close out the stanza as SJU held on to its slim lead.

For the game, the Hawks finished 16-of-54 from the field (29.6 percent) and 4-of-19 from behind the arc (21.1 percent). At the other end, Fordham finished 17-of-51 from the floor (33.3 percent) and 3-of-11 from three-point range (27.3 percent). A major difference in the outcome came at the foul line, as Saint Joseph's went 18-of-22 (81.8 percent), while Fordham finished just 6-of-13 (46.2 percent).

Individually Schutte and freshman guard Jen Oyler led the way for Saint Joseph's as the two added 13 points apiece, as Schutte added nine rebounds and Oyler a career-high two blocks. Ffrnech chipped in nine points and a team-high four assists.

Stacey Price's 11 points and nine rebounds led the Rams.

With the victory, the Hawks improve to 19-9 overall, while Fordham's season comes to an end at 10-18.