Philly Teams Falter In Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tournament

A10 WBB 2014The quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Richmond Coliseum both Philadelphia schools were defeated.  In the afternoon session the 5th seeded Hawks of Saint Joseph’s dropped an overtime heart breaker to the Colonials of George Washington, the 5th seed, 82 – 79.  In the evening the La Salle Explorers (the number 7 seed) lost to the 2nd seeded St. Bonaventure 54 – 42.

4 Seed George Washington Colonials 82   5 Seed Saint Joseph’s Hawks 79 – The Hawks battled back from 6-points down with under a minute left in the overtime period, but could not connect on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.  This was a tight contest throughout.  George Washington tied the game in regulation in two free throws by the Colonial’s Danni Jackson.  In overtime GW opened an 80 – 74 lead.  Saint Joe’s junior guard Natasha Cloud cut the deficit to 80 – 76 with 29 seconds left.  After a George Washington free throw another Cloud layup made it 81 – 78.  Each team converted a free throw.  Saint Joseph’s had a final chance.

Junior forward Ashley Robinson missed her second free throw (the final point of the game), but senior guard Erin Shields got the rebound.  Following a timeout with 9.8 seconds on the clock, the Hawks got the ball to Shields.  Her three-pointer missed, but Cloud got the rebound, kicked the ball back to Shields whose shot from beyond the arc hit the front of the rim as the horn sounded.

Saint Joseph’s shot 48.5% for the game (33 of 68), but made 4 of 16 from distance.  The free throw line was not friendly to the Hawks as they converted 9 of 16.  George Washington made 40.9% of their field goal attempts (27 of 66) and converted 6 of 14 three’s.  The Colonials went 22 of 32 from the charity stripe.  Jonquel Jones led GW with a game-high 30 points and 16 rebounds.

All five Saint Joe’s starters recorded double-digit scoring led by sophomore forward Sarah Fairbanks with 19 points and 6 rebounds.  Shields added 17 points.  Cloud handed out a game-high 8 assists to go with 13 points and 7 rebounds.  Robinson and sophomore guard Ciara Andrews scored 13 points each.

2 Seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies 54   7 Seed La Salle Explorers 42 – Despite a stellar defensive effort, the Explorers could not find enough offense and were eliminated by the Bonnies.  Alicia Cropper led La Salle with 18 points, while added 14 points.  Jasmine Alston pulled down 10 rebounds.  Hannah Little recorded a double-double for the Bonnies with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

For the game St. Bona shot 37.5% (15 – 40) form the floor and 3 of 13 from distance.  However, La Salle converted only 22.2% of their shots (14 of 62) and went 3 of 15 from three-point territory.

 

The Hawks finish the season 22 – 9 and the Explorers complete their season with a 15 – 15 record.  Each time will learn their post-season fates on Selection Monday March 17.

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