February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Manley
The Christmas break did nothing to remove the sparkle from the St. Joseph’s (Pa.) women’s basketball team and its star forward, Susan Moran. The Hawks have run off four victories in the last two weeks to improve to 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
The holiday festivities began in the First Union Hawk Classic, with a 90-62 pasting of Air Force. Moran, a sophomore from Tullamore, Co. Offaly, just missed a double-double, scoring 18 points and hauling in nine rebounds (five from the offensive board). She hit eight of 12 from the field and two of four from the foul line. The Hawks then stuck it to Loyola (Md.), 74-54, for the Classic championship. Moran led all scorers with 28 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the floor and 6-for-8 from the stripe. She brought down six caroms.
The Hawks then sidestepped some booby traps laid by Atlantic-10 rivals Dayton and Xavier (Ohio). St. Joe’s defeated Dayton, 62-60, on a shot at the buzzer. Moran once again dominated the scoring column, leading with 25
points. She drained 10 of 17 field goal attempts and all five foul shots. She also wrestled down 12 boards. The Hawks then showed their character, when they battled back from a 15-point halftime deficit to edge Xavier, 69-67. Moran added 15 points to the cause, connecting on 6-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line, while collecting nine rebounds.
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