March 18, 2010

PHILADELPHIA -

March 17, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's (17-14) women's basketball team opens play in the WNIT when it hosts Virginia Commonwealth (20-12) on Thursday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in Hagan Arena. Tickets are available by contacting the SJU Ticket Office at 610-660-1712 or tickets@sju.edu. Adult tickets are $10 and faculty/staff and youth tickets are $5.

The winner of the game will face the winner of the Hofstra-Penn State game with the date and time to be determined.

Cindy Griffin. • The Hawks have previously earned bids in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2004. • The Hawks are one of eight Atlantic 10 teams to earn postseason bids this year - three (Xavier, Temple, Dayton) in the NCAA; and five (SJU, Charlotte, Duquesne, Richmond, St. Bonaventure) in the WNIT. • The winner of this game will face the winner of the Hofstra at Penn State game, with the date and site to be determined. • Saint Joseph's lost to Coppin State, 67-52, in its last WNIT appearance on March 15, 2007 at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. Then-freshman Brittany Ford scored 11 points, with Amy Gillespie adding two points (recap and boxscore on page 21). • Senior forward Brittany Ford was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Third Team. Ford currently leads the Hawks in scoring at 10.3 points per game and is shooting a team-best 52 percent from the field (117-of-225). She was an All-Conference Honorable Mention a season ago and is the 53rd Saint Joseph's player to earn All-Conference honors. • Freshman guard Ashley Prim became the 12th Hawk to earn A-10 All-Rookie Team accolades. She is currently fourth in the A-10 and leads all conference rookies in assists (112). The Ansonia, Conn. native has appeared in all 31 games and averaging a team-high 26.7 minutes per game.

HAWKS SET SINGLE-GAME FREE THROW RECORD FOR EFFICIENCY Going 18-of-18 from the foul line against Charlotte in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the Hawks set a new single-game mark for proficiency. The 100 percent conversion rate has occurred a handful of times over the years for SJU, however the 18-of-18 is the highest amount of made free throws, surpassing the 17-made the Hawks converted against Dayton (1/7/00) and George Washington (1/9/01).

HAWKS SIZZLE FROM THE FIELD AT ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT As a team, Saint Joseph's shot 52.6 percent from the field (60-of-114) and 50 percent from three-point range (14-of-28) at last week's Atlantic 10 Tournament. Individually, six Hawks shot over 50 percent from the floor, led by senior Amy Gillespie 85.7 percent (6-of-7).

FORD BECOMES 20TH HAWKS TO SCORE 1,000 POINTS With a layup at the 7:42 mark of the first half against Charlotte on March 6, senior forward Brittany Ford became the 20th player in team history to reach 1,000 career points. Averaging a team-best 10.3 points per game this year, Ford has tallied 1,005 points over 110 games (9.1 ppg) and is currently two points shy of matching Joanne Gentry `81 for 19th place all-time in scoring.

GRIFFIN WINS 200TH GAME Just over a week after winning her 150th game at Hawk Hill, Saint Joseph's head coach Cindy Griffin earned her 200th career victory in SJU's win over George Washington on January 30. Griffin has compiled a 206-156 career record over 12 seasons at Loyola (Md.) and Saint Joseph's. She is now 158-123 in nine years with the Hawks and third all-time in SJU history in victories behind Jim Foster (248) and Stephanie Gaitley (196).

ATLANTIC 10 ROAD SMOOTHER FOR HAWKS After going just 1-4 in road contests during the non-conference schedule, the Hawks found the conference road slate a little easier, finishing with a 3-4 mark in Atlantic 10 road games. Even in the four losses, the Hawks proved to be a tough opponent, holding leads in three games and having an opportunity to tie the game in the final minute at Xavier. While SJU's offense is close to averaging the same as it did in non-conference road games (56.3-to-57.6), the Hawks' defense has stepped up, holding opponents to 57.7 ppg after allowing 67.0 to non-conference teams.

HAWKS RETURN HOME TO HAGAN ARENA Saint Joseph's opened play at the Michael J. Hagan `85 Arena with a 77-55 win over UMBC on November 21. This season, the Hawks posted a 12-4 mark at Hagan Arena, with SJU outscoring opponents 64.9-to-55.6 on average. Senior Mariame Djouara scored the first SJU point at Hagan Arena on a free throw versus the Retrievers, with classmate Ashley Logue scoring the first basket for the Hawks. Last season, the Hawks posted an 8-5 "home" record while playing at Philadelphia University's Gallagher Center, Drexel University's Daskalakis Center and The Palestra. Saint Joseph's previously played its home games for 35 seasons at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, going 332-117 while posting only two losing seasons at home. Below is a list of new amenities that the Michael J. Hagan `85 Arena offers. * 4,200 seats; an increase of 1,000 * New premium seating section with chair backs * New upper level concourse with additional restrooms and concession stands * Fully air-conditioned arena * New Will-Call entrance and additional ticket entrances * Renovated visiting team locker rooms * Expanded media room * New scoreboard, additional video boards and speakers INJURY REPORT The Hawks currently have their full roster of 11 players available. Rookie forward Ashley Robinson is red-shirting the 2009-10 season after suffering a leg injury during the preseason.

LOGUE AND FORD AMONGST SJU'S ALL-TIME REBOUNDERS Seniors Brittany Ford and Ashley Logue will cap their careers amongst the top rebounders in Saint Joseph's history. Ford is currently 19th all-time in program history with 452 career rebounds and has grabbed a team-best 146 boards this year. The Hawks' top rebounder per game this year at 5.3 per game, Logue is currently tied for 22nd alongside Megan Compain `97 at 443. A complete list of the Hawks rebounding leaders is on page 80 of the SJU media guide.

TIME TO SHARE Playing time has been spread equally through out season for Saint Joseph's. Currently, 10 of 11 Hawks are averaging more than 10 minutes per game, with nine of them having started at least one game. In contrast to last year, freshman Ashley Prim's team-leading 26.7 minutes per game is more than five minutes below last year's leader in minutes per game, Mary Kate McDade (32.8).