Hofstra Pulls Away In The Fourth Quarter To Defeat Saint Joseph’s

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 12/22/2016 – The Saint Joseph’s Hawks women’s basketball team continued the CAA portion of the schedule hosting the Hofstra Pride at the Hagan Arena.  The game was close for three quarters, but Hofstra put together a strong fourth quarter to earn a 75 – 64 win over Saint Joseph’s.  This has been an unfortunate trend for the Hawks recently.

“Our woes in the fourth quarter still seems to haunt us,”  said Saint Joseph’s Coach Cindy Griffin.  “We gave up 27 points in the quarter.  It’s disappointing.  Our kids know we can play with any team, and it’s a matter of executing on offense and getting stops on defense.”

After thirty minutes the Pride held a 48 – 45 lead.  In the fourth quarter Saint Joe’s turnovers and the resulting inside points took its toll.   The Hawks turned the ball over 7 times and the Pride had a 12 – 2 edge in points off turnovers. With 8:28 to play and Saint Joe’s down 52 – 48 Hofstra went on an 18 – 4 run over the next five minutes to move in front 70 – 52.  The Hawks committed 5 turnovers in that critical stretch.  Pride forward Ashunae Durant scored 8 of her game and career high 28 points in the run, and guard Krystal Luciano netted 6 of her 13 points within the deciding five minutes.

For the game Saint Joseph’s had 14 turnovers giving Hofstra a 21 – 7 advantage in points off turnovers.

“We gave up 21 points on 14 turnovers,” said Griffin.  “It’s not taking care of the ball.  We’ve had a positive assist to turnover ratio for some many games, but in the last two games we have not done that.”

The ration in this game was 11 to 14.

Hofstra (7 – 3) made 30 of their 55 shots (54.5%) and took only eight three-pointers converting five.  Guard Alena Leon added 11 points.

The Hawks (3 – 8) were led by Chelsea Woods who scored 20 points making 9 of 16 from the floor.  The junior forward had a game-high tying 8 rebounds.  Alyssa Monaghan added 17 points and Amanda Fioravanti, playing in place of an injured Sarah Veilleux, scored 14 points converting 6 of 9 field goal attempts.

Saint Joe’s will return to action on December 28 facing their third CAA opponent James Madison, the final non-conference game.  The A-10 portion of the schedule will begin on New Year’s Eve at Richmond.

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com