Dec. 28, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Backed by a 22-2 run midway through the second half, the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team topped NJIT in the opening game of the Hilton Philadelphia Hawk Classic Friday afternoon at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The Hawks (6-6) will face No. 15 Auburn in the title game Saturday, while the Highlanders and Davidson will compete in the consolation game at 2 p.m.

Leading 39-33 four minutes into the second half, Saint Joseph's offense caught fire, going 8-of-10 from the floor and adding four free throws to up its lead to double figures. The Hawks saw their lead climb to 26, 61-35, as SJU held NJIT to just two points during its six-minute run.

Trailing 64-47 with 4:21 to play, the Highlanders mounted a comeback. NJIT scored eight-straight points over the next two minutes, cutting Saint Joseph's advantage to 64-55 on a layup by Adriana Johnson.

Seeing its lead cut to single digits, the Hawks got baskets from freshman forward Alexis Johnson and sophomore forward Brittany Ford to hold on for the win.

In the opening half, Saint Joseph's led 11-9, but strung together a quick 8-1 run, taking a 19-10 lead on a layup by sophomore guard Amy Gillespie at 8:45.

The Hawks extended their lead to 25-14, but NJIT refused to give, rallying behind a 7-0 run to cut SJU's deficit to 25-21 with 4:00 left in the half.

Despite shooting 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field and holding the Highlanders to just 29.6 percent (8-of-27), Saint Joseph's entered the half up only 33-26 as NJIT converted four three pointers to SJU's zero.

For the game, Saint Joseph's went 29-of-57 (50.9 percent), while the Highlanders shot 21-of-58 (36.2 percent). The Hawks won the battle of the boards, 45-28, but committed 28 turnovers as NJIT collected 18 steals.

Individually, Hawks' senior guard Timisha Gomez paced her squad with 16 points, while Ford added 12 points. Johnson was the high scorer off the bench for Saint Joseph's, pouring in a career-high eight points, to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds.

At the other end, NJIT (2-8) was led by 16 points from Jessica Gerald, while Johnson and Taiwo Oyelola added 12 points and 11 points, respectively.

In the nightcap, No. 15 Auburn used a 10-1 run over a four-minute span to top Davidson, 66-59. The Tigers, who saw their lead cut to 62-59 with 49 seconds remaining, made four straight free throws in the final seconds to earn the victory. Auburn, which moved to 12-1 overall with the win, was led by Alli Smalley's 15 points. Danielle Hemerka paced Davidson with 13 points as the Wildcats fell to 6-5 with the loss.