The Hawks are flying on Cloud nine.
Natasha Cloud, voted the Most Outstanding Player after her 15-point performance in the Atlantic 10 Championship game, powered Saint Joseph’s to a 47-46 come-from-behind win against Fordham at Barclays Center last night.
“Wow, what a game,” Hawks head coach Cindy Griffin said. “We started out down … but our kids were resilient today, determined today, had a lot of desire today. Down the stretch, we made plays when we needed to.”
Fordham opened the game with a 12-0 run, powered mostly by leading scorer Marah Strickland, who finished with 16 points. St. Joseph’s (23-8) was held scoreless until 14:17 remaining in the first half, when Ashley Prim hit two free throws after being fouled by Abigail Corning (12 points).
“It was a combination of everybody saying ‘we need to step it up and we’re not going to leave here with any regrets’” Prim said. “We were going to leave it all on the floor and weren’t going to leave this floor without a win.”
The Hawks duplicated the Rams’ 12-0 run early in the second half. After Corning extended Fordham’s lead to 30-22, St. Joe’s went on a 12-0 run to take a 34-30 lead. The run was capped off by a Mirela Vila 3-pointer.
The game came down to the wire, and with 6.9 seconds left and Fordham (24-8) down one, freshman forward Samantha Clark was whistled for an offensive foul after Erin Rooney tried to feed the ball to her down low.
“Not to sound bad, but I didn’t see a foul at all,” Strickland said. “We were all shocked.”
As was Rams head coach Stephanie Gaitley.
“I always believe it should be the kids determining the outcome,” Gaitley said. “That’s what’s so disappointing.”
Aside from combining for 23 points, Cloud and Prim were also tasked with defending the Rams’ two leading scorers, Strickland and Rooney (seven points), who were a combined 7-of-29 from the field.
“Our two best defenders needed to be on their two best offensive players,” Griffin said. “[Cloud and Prim] had that responsibility throughout most of the game. They were very focused tonight.”
And now the Hawks will be going dancing.
“I’m going to enjoy seeing Saint Joseph’s on that ESPN bottom line [during the selection show],” Griffin said.