Baker Guides Saint Joseph's Women's Basketball Past Saint Louis, 69-50

PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's senior guard Michelle Baker (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) scored a season-high 21 points to lead three players in double figures as the Hawks defeated Saint Louis 69-50 on Sunday afternoon at Hagan Arena.

Baker made 10-of-16 from the field and scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the first half.  Junior Ashley Prim (Ansonia, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) 11 points for the Hawks and had a game-high six assists and senior forward Kelly Cavallo (Hampton Bays, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) added 10 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds in the win.  Sophomore guard Erin Shields (Drexel Hill, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) tied her career-high with three steals.

Saint Joseph's (16-8, 6-4 Atlantic 10), which held a 38-16 lead at halftime, went on an 8-0 run coming out of the locker room and would extend their lead by as much as 29 points.  Trailing 51-23 at 14:12, the Billikens scored 10 uncontested points to close the gap to 18, but the Hawks would respond as Baker scored Saint Joseph's next seven points to extend the lead back to 58-36 with 6:30 to go.

Down 64-44, Saint Louis (8-17, 2-8 A-10) would close the gap to 19 on a jumper by Desirae Ball, but junior guard Shelby Smith (Ames, Iowa/Waterloo West) and sophomore guard Kasie Parker (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Howell) would add the final four points for the Hawks as they took the victory, 69-50.

Saint Louis was led by 14 points from Desirae Morgan and 12 points by Lorreal Jones.

Tied 2-2 in the early going, the Hawks took a 9-2 lead on a 7-0 run that began with a breakaway layup by Prim.  Cavallo would score the next four points for the Hawks to bring the score to 13-4 and Baker bucketed the next six points for Saint Joseph's to extend the Hawk lead to 19-9 at 9:51.

Saint Louis would respond with back-to-back jumpers to close the gap to six points, but Saint Joe's would go on an 11-2 run, with five points coming from Shields, to extend the score to 30-15 with 5:19 to go in the half.

Saint Louis responded with a free throw by Mallory Eggert, but Cavallo, Shields, Kuester and Gotfred would combine for the final eight points of the half as the Hawks exploded with a 22 point lead at 38-16 heading into the locker room.

Saint Joseph's shot 17-for-31 (54.8 percent) in the first half compared to 7-for-32 (21.9 percent) shooting from Saint Louis.  Overall, the Hawks shot 29-for-63 (46.0 percent) from the floor and held the edge over the Billikens in both three point shooting at 4-for-16 (25.0 percent) and foul shooting, going 7-for-8 from the line.  Both teams pulled down 37 rebounds a piece, but Saint Joseph's held the defensive edge in steals (8-3) and blocks (6-2).

As today's game promoted Breast Cancer Awareness, a portion of today's ticket sales will go to Assistance in Healthcare.

The Hawks return to action this Wednesday when they host Rhode Island.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Hagan Arena.