March 3, 2007

Box Score

CINCINNATI, OH - Trailing by 12 points to start the game, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team gritted its teeth, and behind a 30-point performance from senior guard Ayahna Cornish, the fifth-seeded Hawks downed the fourth-seeded Charlotte 49ers, 76-64, Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship at the Cintas Center.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinals to face No. 8/9 George Washington Colonials at noon on Sunday. The game will be broadcast nationally on CSTV.

Charlotte opened the game as the aggressor, running out to a 15-3 advantage, while the Hawks were extremely cold on offense, going just 1-for-10 to start the game.

Even when Saint Joseph's was able to convert on offense, the 49ers had a response, holding a 23-11 edge with 5:42 left in the opening half.

From there though, Saint Joseph's began to execute. Behind 10 of Cornish's game-high 30 points, the Hawks closed out the half on a 17-5 run. Cornish capped the run, tying the game at 28, with a jump shot with 10 seconds left in the stanza.

An 8-4 spurt in the second half gave the Hawks their first lead of the game as Cornish accounted for six of those points.

The 49ers tied the game at 40 apiece with 13:46 left in the game, but it was all Saint Joseph's from there. Junior guard Timisha Gomez sparked an 8-0 run with a three pointer at 13:19 to put the Hawks up 48-40.

Holding onto a 52-47 lead, Saint Joseph's bumped its lead to 12, 60-48, behind an 8-1 run. Hawks' senior guard Whitney Ffrench capped the run with back-to-back baskets, giving her team its first double-digit lead at 5:49.

Saint Joseph's saw its lead cut to 60-53 with 4:32 remaining, but the Hawks calmly answered with three-straight baskets to open up a 13-point, 66-53, advantage with 2:15 remaining. The Hawks went 10-of-12 from the line to finish the game and earn a bid into the semifinals.

For the game, the Hawks went 27-of-48 (46.6 percent), including a blistering 18-of-30 in the second half (60 percent). At the line, SJU finished 18-of-26 (69.2 percent) and 4-15 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc. The 49ers finished 21-of-57 from the floor (36.8 percent), 5-of-14 from three-point range (35.7 percent) and 17-of-25 from the foul line (68 percent). On the glass, the Hawks out rebounded Charlotte 42-36.

For the second time this season, Cornish posted a 30-point performance, going 10-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-4 from behind the arc, and 8-of-10 from the foul line. Ffrench added 15 points and two steals, while freshman forward Brittany Ford added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Wendy Stywalt led the way for Charlotte with 16 points, while Sabrina Gregory added 15.

With the victory, the Hawks improve to 18-12 on the year, while Charlotte falls to 18-12 with the loss.