Box Score
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the consolation game of the University of Florida Holiday Classic, the Saint Joseph's Hawks defeated the Savannah State women's basketball team 88-41 at Stephen O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.

The loss closed out the first half of the Lady Tigers season. They fall to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. They return to action January 2 with a visit to San Diego, California to play San Diego State.

Leading the Lady Tigers was senior Erin Hogue who recorded 16 points, and grabbed five rebounds. Andrietta Thomas came off the bench to score eight points and grab five rebounds.

St. Joe's jumped out to an 8-point lead, 12-4, in the opening minutes behind a pair of 3-pointers. Andrietta Thomas sank a jumper at the 12:51 mark to spark a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers that culminated with a layup from Hogue that cut the Hawks lead to 12-10.

The Hawks extended their lead to 26-12 with a 14-2 run in the following six minutes.  SSU struggled to defend the shooting prowess of St. Joe's in the waning minutes of the first half as the Hawks went up by 24 points, 38-14, on a 3-pointer from Mireia Vila with 2:45 to play.

Hogue sank three free-throws and Blessing Uba hit a jumper in the final three minutes for the Lady Tigers, cutting St. Joe's lead to 19 points, 38-19, into the locker room.

In the opening half, St. Joe's managed a 66.7 percent clip from the outside the arc hitting 6-of-9 3-point offerings, and 51.7 percent from the field. SSU shot 27.6 precent from the field.

Hogue opened the scoring in the second half with a layup at the 19:28 mark, cutting the Hawks lead to 38-21. St. Joe's responded with an 8-0 run in the following minute and a half for a 46-21 advantage. Jazmin Thomas broke the run with a 3-pointer, making it a 22 point game, 46-24.

The Lady Tigers continued to struggle with perimeter defense as the Hawks dropped several 3-pointers. With 7:20 to play, Kelsey Berger sank a trey for a 70-35 St. Joe's advantage.

Savannah State continued to battle in the final minutes as St. Joe's continued to extend their lead. A good free-throw from Ciara Andrews with nine seconds on the clock finalized the score and the largest lead of the game for the Hawks.

The Lady Tigers fared better from the field in the second half, shooting at a 40 percent clip. They ended the game at 33.3 percent from the field. St. Joe's shot a staggering 71.4 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 10-of-14 3-point offerings.

NOTABLES:
This was the first meeting between St. Joe's and Savannah State. The Hawks improve to 6-4 on the season. They open a rigorous Atlantic 10 Conference stretch beginning in January.

Hogue continues to be a scoring threat for the Lady Tigers.  Tonight's game against St. Joe's was the seventh game in which Hogue finished in double digits.

The Lady Tigers shifted the starting lineup in the game against St. Joe's, due to several team injuries. Alexandria Taylor got her first start for SSU, while Jazmin Thomas got her fourth start at point guard.

At the end of the first half, junior Ezinne Kalu leads the team in points (161) and scoring average (13.4). Hogue and Andrietta Thomas follow closely with 133 points (10.2), and 132 points (10.2), respectively. Hogue leads in rebounds with 101, averaging 7.8 per game.