Women's Basketball Falls to St Joseph's 77-37

PHILADELPHIA (December 6) - Using its trademark defense and nearly impeccable marksmanship, St.

Joseph's (4-1, 1-0 A-10) rolled over Temple (1-4, 0-1), 77-37 in the Atlantic 10 opener for

both schools. SJU came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, as SJU shot over 70% in the

first half. Conversely, the Owls struggled to put the ball in the hole, netting just 16 first half

points on 22% shooting.

Hawk head coach Stephanie V. Gaitley was satisfied with the games outcome for SJU. "I was

very pleased...overall I thought that the commitment to defense was there. I knew that there

could be a big lull , because we have a big stretch coming up, but I don't think there was any

lull. I think we went about realizing and understanding that this was the first step toward

defending our title."

Temple was never really able to get on track in the first half, as SJU stormed out to a 31-6

lead. The hot-hand of Angela Zampella keyed the Hawks early success. She scored on four

out of five Hawk possessions midway through the half and helped to turn a six SJU advantage

into a 17-point lead. Zampella would score all 16 of her points in the first half, equaling the

output of the entire Temple squad for the half. The Hawks would lead going into the locker

room 37-16.

Gaitley felt that Zampella played a fine all-around game. "I thought that Ang played a great

game. I thought she played under control. She didn't try to force anything. She took open

shots. She took what they gave her and we came out and shot very well."

In the second half it was more of the same as SJU continued to make shots from all over the

floor, while the Owls struggled to find their range. The Hawks would finish the game shooting

64% from the field, while TU hit only 28% of their shots.

Temple coach Kristin Foley felt that the Hawks hot early shooting, coupled with the Owls

shooting woes, really affected the Owl's confidence. "We didn't hit some open shots early and

I think that confidence-wise that really brought us down and I think obviously that affected

our defense and St. Joe's is a great team and really took advantage of that."

Once again the Hawks were productive at getting to the free throw line. SJU got to the charity

stripe 35 times converting 26 of their chances. Temple hit on just 3 of 6 free throws. It was

the fourth time this season that SJU has attempted at least 25 free throws in a game, with the

Hawks winning each time.

Zampella and Jana Lichnerova tied for game scoring honors with 16 points each. Colleen

McGahan added 11 points for the Hawks, while Susan Moran had 9 points and 8 rebounds.

All 12 Hawks who played in the contest scored for SJU and sophomores Jane Meade (9

points) and Amy Snell (5 points) tallied career highs. Freshman Natasha Pronga tallied her

first collegiate points.

Senior Kim Martin finished as the Owls top scorer, netting 8 points. Melissa Dunne and

Melissa Eagles added 6 points apiece.

The win was the largest by SJU since a 91-45 victory over Penn on Novermber 25, 1997. It

was the Hawks fourth straight win in the series and 16th in the last 18 meetings.

The Hawks return to the hardwood on Wednesday, as they take on Big Five rival Penn at

The Palestra at 6:00 p.m. The Owls, likewise return to action on Wednesday, taking on

Lehigh. Next Saturday, SJU will travel up the Main Line for another Big Five game, this time

against Villanova.

Temple University Athletics