Women's Hoops Downs Saint Joe's 72-54; Advances to A-10 Semifinal

	Printer-Friendly Format E-mail this article Jerri Taylor and the Musketeers will take on GW tomorrow for a berth in the A-10 Championship Final.

XU in Semis for Ninth Time in 11 Years

March 8, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection Amber Harris scored 13 points, snared 11 rebounds and was four assists shy of a triple-double to lead the Xavier University women's basketball team past Saint Joe's by a 74-52 count in A-10 Championship Quarterfinal action on Saturday evening at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in Philadelphia. With the win, Xavier improves to 22-8 on the season while the host Hawks slip to 17-14.

No. 3 seeded Xavier now advances to the semifinal round where it will square-off against No. 2 George Washington on Sunday. Game time is set for 2 p.m. EDT on Hawk Hill. Xavier will play in its ninth A-10 semifinal in the last 11 years on Sunday.

The start of tonight's game was delayed approximately one hour and 20 minutes due to a leak in the roof.

Harris' 13 came on 6-of-14 shooting and her six assists marked a career high. She also blocked three shots on the night.

League Rookie of the Year Ta'Shia Phillips scored 12 points and snared five rebounds in only 16 minutes of action. Freshman guard Special Jennings (10 points) and junior guard Jerri Taylor 11 points) were the other double-figure scorers for XU.

XU built a 34-22 halftime edge and put the game away in the early stages of the second half. The Musketeers opened the second stanza on a 14-7 run and seized a commanding 48-29 lead after Megan Askew converted on a lay-up at the 13:10 mark.

Saint Joe's would trim the lead to 52-36 at the 11:50 mark but Xavier answered with a 17-7 spurt over the next 5:40 to take an overwhelming 69-43 lead at the 6:10 mark. Reed capped the run with a put back and Harris scored five points and dished-out two assists in that 6:10 span.

XU won the battle of the boards by a 50-to-32 count and held a 32-to-19 edge on the defensive glass. XU was solid defensively, holding the Hawks to a chilly 27.1 percent (16-of-59) from the field.

Xavier came out and scored the game's first six points and led 8-1 after Harris converted on a fast break lay-up with 15:20 remaining.

Saint Joe's would wake up though and cut the XU advantage to one point, 18-17, after Amy Gillespie drained a 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark to make the score 18-17. Xavier would clamp down defensively though and held the Hawks scoreless for the next 3-minutes. The Musketeers got some easy buckets off their defense and sprinted out to a 12-3 run over a 5:20 stretch to take their largest lead of the half, 34-20, with 1:20 to go in the first stanza.

The XU run was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Taylor. The South Bend, Ind. native broke out of a recent slump with eight points and two assists in the first session. The Hawks were able to muster a couple free throws on the ensuing possession and Xavier headed into the locker room up 34-22.