Feb. 25, 2007

PITTSBURGH - Senior Ayahna Cornish and sophomore Jenna Loschiavo netted 19 points apiece to pace Saint Joseph's (16-12, 9-6 A-10) to a 75-65 victory over Duquesne (7-21, 2-13 A-10) at the A.J. Palumbo Center. The Hawks connected on 10-22 three-point field goals.

Solid shooting from the perimeter helped the Hawks take an early lead and late free throws allowed SJU to ice a pesky Dukes squad.

The contest was tied on three occassions in the opening minutes, but Loschiavo knocked down three early three-pointers and helped to key an 11-3 run that allowed SJU to push out to a nine-point lead, 24-15. The Crimson and Gray would extend the advantage to 12 points and held a 39-32 lead at intermission.

Duquesne scored the first five points of the second half to trim the SJU lead down to just a bucket, 39-37. St. Joe's, however, responded with a 14-2 surge, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Loschiavo and Cornish to push back out to its largest lead of teh game at 14 points, 53-39.

The Dukes keyed by a career-high 27 points by senior Loui Hall kept the game within striking distance late. The Hawks, however, would score their final 10 points at the free throw line to hang on for the 75-65 win.

Whitney Ffrench added 11 points for SJU, including 9-10 at the stripe.

With the win SJU secured the fifth seed in the Alantic 10 Championship Tournament. The Crimson and Gray will play Rhode Island at 2:00 PM on Friday at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.