Liveblog: St. Joe’s Women’s Basketball vs. GW

3:57: With final box score in hand, it’s clear to see who today’s star was. Brittany Ford absolutely dominated the second half, finishing with 23 points overall, going 10-13 from the floor and 3-3 from the line. Both Logue and Djouara had better games than against La Salle, and Ashley Prim even began to heat up in the second half. With momentum in their favor, the Hawks will now face Temple on Tuesday night to try and extend their winning streak to 3. On a side note, this was head coach Cindy Griffin’s 200th win as head coach of the Hawks.  From the Hagan Arena on a snowy, windy afternoon, this is Tom Hagan signing off with the Hawks beating George Washington by 63-47.

3:51: And that’ll do it for the Hawks. St. Joe’s gets a healthy 16 point win over GW, 63-47. Be back with a wrapup in a little bit.

3:49: Prim forces a turnover with Baker now in the game. Wilson picks up the rebound on a Prim miss, but Gillespie picks up the Allums miss. Ford again adds to her point total today, and the Hawks are now up 63-47.

3:47: Prim again hits two free-throws on a foul, and on the other end Logue draws her third foul of the game. Shelton hits both FTs to cut the lead to 14.

3:45: Prim knocks down both free throws to give St. Joe’s a 57-42 lead. Myers knocks down a three to lower the lead to 12. Ford continues her dominant pace with another layup and it looks as little can stop the Hawks from winning today. Now, I’m no coroner, but I think it’s almost time to pronounce this game over.

Hawks stay hot in rout of Penn

It started out dicey, but by the end of the night the Hawks made no mistake in romping over Penn, 85-64. The win is their third in a row and just their second away from the Hagan Arena all season, joining their victory over Boston College at the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands.

The game got off to a nervy start as neither team was able to impose their will offensively, and the teams were deadlocked at 27 with 5:41 left in the half. Compounding it for the Hawks was foul trouble for Garrett Williamson, ’10, who had to sit the last 9:45 of the period with two fouls.

But even without their senior marathon man, the Hawks mounted a charge into the halftime break, and finished with a 13-0 spurt to take a 40-27 edge.

St. Joe’s-Towson men’s basketball live game blog

9:50- That’s it for tonight, as the Hawks escape the Hagan Arena with a hard-fought win. Join us on Saturday night at 6 p.m. from right here with all the action as the Hawks take on conference foe Dayton. Goodnight everybody!!

9:45- You’d hope it would be more comfortable for the Hawks, but in the end they were able to escape with a win tonight over Towson thanks to a strong second half. They outscored the Tigers 41-28 in the second stanza to reverse a six-point halftime deficit. The shooting effort was much better from St. Joe’s, who went 10-23 (43.5 percent) from the field, and five of 10 from three-point land. They also hit their free throws down the stretch, converting on 16 of their 19 trips to the charity stripe in the second half.

Idris Hilliard led the way for the Hawks with 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Justin Crosgile chipped in 13, the second straight game he has hit three threes, while Garrett Williamson, who played all 40 minutes, joined them in double-figures with 12. Darrin Govens managed nine points to go along with six assists despite a woeful shooting night (3-15 from the field, 2-10 from three), and Carl Jones had eight.

Todd O’Brien led the way on the boards, with 11 rebounds for a St. Joe’s team that held a 19-14 edge on the glass in the second half. St. Joe’s also committed a season-low tying eight turnovers.

“The players deserved to have something good happen to them because they really did a terrific job yesterday,” said Martelli, whose team held up nicely after a long Sunday that started at 4 a.m. when they arrived back from Olean and continued until past 11 p.m. thanks to academic meetings, video study, and practice. ” They needed something good to happen. When the ball didn’t drop in the first half, we sagged.”

The Hawks also stepped up the defensive effort after halftime, limiting the Tigers to just seven made field goals on 26 attempts (26.9 percent). They held Josh Thornton in check, who had just seven points in the second on 2-10 shooting and 1-6 from behind the arc. He finished with 23, while Jarrel Smith ended up with 17 points, 15 of which came in the second half. The Towson bench accounted for 44 of their 57 points, and no one other than Smith and Thornton topped four points on the day. Robert Nwankwo had 14 rebounds in the losing effort, while leading scorer Calvin Lee was held to just three points (1-7 shooting) and no rebounds in 28 minutes.

Martelli credits Prescott for a lot of that defense, as he helped quiet Thornton’s first half onslaught. But it was the offensive adjustment that also helped turn the tide. The Hawks had open looks in the first and struggled to connect, but four quick threes to open the second half created some gaps in the Towson zone defense, and with a little patience, gave Hilliard the room he needed to operate.

“It wasn’t really a change, but in the first it just felt like we were passing around the zone too much and not attacking it, so we came in at halftime said we had to attack the zone more, and we did that,” said Hilliard. “Once a couple guys started hitting threes, I caught the ball a couple times and was surprised I was so wide open.”

“I was pleased with the patience that we showed,” Martelli said. “We’re a team that wants to play obviously quicker, and I had a fear when we came in that with all that matchup that they do that we would just rely on jumper, jumper, jumper. In the second half, we made a concerted effort to put the ball in the lane. Idris had some good finishes in the bucket area.”

Hawks open account, and arena, with blowout win

After a rough 0-2 start on the road, the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team finally got its chance to open up the Michael J. Hagan, ’85 Arena with a bang. With a notably smaller but nevertheless spirited crowd than the men’s opener, the Hawks tipped off their first game in the new arena with their first win of the season over University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 77-55.

The Hawks got off to a slow start, and an 8-1 run by UMBC to open the game left the Hawks in need of an early rally. The Hawks fought their way back into the game, keeping it within reach until they were able to take the lead with 13:02 left in the first half thanks to a Sportscenter Top-10-worthy layup by Mariame Djouara, ’10. Rebounds by both Djouara and Ashley Logue, ’10, combined with ball-handling miscues by the Retrievers, helped the Hawks maintain a lead that got as large as seven points. Sloppy play near the end of the half, however, allowed UMBC to inch back into the game and cut the Hawks’ advantage to just three, 34-31, at the half.

LIVE: St. Joe’s-Drexel Game blog

10:15- That’s all for tonight; hope you enjoyed our live blog from the first ever game at the Hagan Arena. A thought to go home with: The Hawks lost their first game in the old Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in 1949, a 62-46 loss to Rhode Island. Just some food for thought about what the next sixty years may have in store.

Goodnight everybody.

10:10- Well, it was far from pretty on both ends–“Not a thing of beauty,” as Martelli put it–but the Hawks were able to get it done tonight, and all with Garrett Williamson as a spectator for most of the overtime period. Govens stepped up big in the waning minutes to add some shine to an overall lackluster performance in which Martelli said he “started the first half too slow, and then in the second half, played at a pace he’s not capable of.” He still finished with a game-high 23, 18 of which came in the second half and overtime.

Lots of credit has to go to the youngsters, with Carl Jones (who missed out on the start only because of a missed class this week) and Todd O’Brien coming up huge down the stretch. O’Brien nailed the eventual game winner, and finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Jones was Martelli’s go-to guy down the stretch, logging 31 minutes and finishing with 13 points, including 9 of 12 from the line.

Also in double figures for the Hawks was Idris Hilliard, who slowed in the second half with only one field goal, but still managed 16 points and seven rebounds while leading the Hawks with 40 minutes played. Williamson, despite eight turnovers, also chipped in 11. He and Govens combined for 13 of the Hawks’ 19 turnovers, against just 11 total assists on the game, which was one of Martelli’s biggest post-game concerns.

The Dragons were led by 20 points from Jamie Harris, and a double-double total of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Derrick Thomas added 14 on 4-11 from three. Evan Neisler was held in check tonight, managing just three points on 1-3 shooting against five fouls. Despite a 45-34 rebounding edge for the Dragons, they committed eight more fouls and allowed the Hawks over twice as many free throw opportunities (42 to 20), which the Hawks converted at a 78.6 percent clip (33-42). The Dragons also had three players, including two starters, foul out to go along with a technical foul and two intentional fouls.

But the star of the show tonight, according to Martelli, was the at least 1,700-man strong student section, which he admitted “choked him up”.

“If I had dreamed what it would look like, not that I did, but that would have surpassed my dream,” he said. “They lifted our team with their energy, and I salute them for that.”

Midnight Madness: Pics and Notes

It’s a little late but here are some pictures from Midnight Madness last night. Suffice it to say any night that starts with Phil Martelli in a bird suit is going to go pretty well. But here are some pictures and observations from Night one in the Hagan Arena:

– The night started with the usually frivolities: free food for students, introductions of both teams, some fans fun and games. And the most important portion of the night, The Hawk Walk benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer, which raised $1,340 for cancer research.

– The scoring opened with a three-pointer by Carl “Tay” Jones, ’13. His jumper is decent, and he looks quite quick and shifty. With his lack of size, he better be.

– Idris Hilliard, ’11, looked excellent on the court. He looks faster and stronger than last year, and is evolving into a type-flight slasher. His stroke from the line also looks improved, which will be vital (just ask Ahmad Nivins, ’09).

EXCLUSIVE: Hagan Arena Dedication Pictures

The Saint Joseph’s University basketball programs marked the long-awaited unveiling of the new Michael J. Hagan, ’85, Arena Saturday night with a gala celebration commemorating both the new facility and the centennial of basketball at St. Joe’s.

The celebration was highlighted by a parade of decades, in which former players and their families from each decade of St. Joe’s men’s and women’s basketball dating back to the 1940s were recognized. Speeches were given by a number of historic members of the St. Joe’s basketball community, including Mike Bantom, ’73, and Susan Moran, ’02. Other famous faces, such as Dr. Jack Ramsay, ’49, Tyrone Barley, ’04, and Chet Stachitas, ’06, as well as the current men’s and women’s teams, were present as well. Donors such as Denise and Mike McNulty, ’85, Tom Wynne, ’63, and Paul Hondros, ’70, Chairman of the St. Joe’s Board of Directors also joined the celebration.

Neil Hartman of Comcast SportsNet served as the Master of Ceremonies and honorary Hawk for the evening and was assisted by Assistant Vice President of Marketing Communications Joe Lunardi, ’82. Also in attendance were a number of local politicians involved in the process, including Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, who spoke about his history with St. Joe’s basketball. Athletic Director Don DiJulia was one of the night’s final speakers, followed by university President Timothy R. Lannon, S.J., who blessed the arena and, together with Hagan, cut the ribbon officially opening the new home of St. Joe’s basketball.

For more pictures from the historic night, visit our main web site.

– Matthew De George, ’10 (photos by Sam Koch, ’11)

The Hagan Arena was all set to open with a bang.

Rendell was one of the men to greet the man of the hour.

From left to right: Hondros, Rendell, Ramsay, and Bantom were among the night’s honored guests.

Over 1,000 of the Hawk faithful turned out for the occasion.

Three quarters of a century of St. Joe’s athletics was represented.

The native of Tullamore, Ireland told of her decade plus on Hawk Hill.

DiJulia was one of the longest standing champions of the Hagan Arena project.

Rendell told fond memories of St. Joe’s basketbal and the Big 5.

Hagan’s tearful speech recognized the hard work of many in making this project a reality.

With one cut by Hagan and Lannon, the new Arena was officially opened.

EXCLUSIVE: First look at new Hagan Arena

The official dedication of the new Micahel J. Hagan, ’85, Arena won’t be until Saturday. But you can get your first looks at the finished product right now:

(photos by Matthew De George ’10)