PHILADELPHIA -- Athena Christoforakis made four free throws in the final 15.4 seconds and grabbed a key rebound as Temple beat Saint Joseph's 63-58 Monday night to clinch its first Atlantic 10 Conference championship.

Natalia Isaac had 16 points and Lisa Jakubowicz added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Owls (20-10), who clinched a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1989.

Christoforakis, who finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds, hit two free throws with 15.4 seconds remaining to give the Owls a 61-58 lead. She grabbed a rebound after a miss by Saint Joseph's, and made two more foul shots with 2.4 left to seal the win.

Isaac hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 56, and a layup by Jakubowicz gave the Owls a 58-56 lead with 50.8 seconds left.

Stacey Smalls, the tournament MVP, made a free throw to give Temple a three-point lead, 59-56. Amy Snell made a layup with 16.7 left to pull the Hawks within one point.

St. Joseph's Susan Moran, the regular-season MVP in the Atlantic 10, scored 14 points, well below her 23.6 average. Stephanie Graff added 11, Jane Meade 12 and Snell 11 for the Hawks (23-7), who finished as conference runners-up for the sixth time.

Trailing by 13 at halftime, the Hawks scored the first nine points of the second half to close within four, 36-32. St. Joseph's tied it at 50 on a 3-pointer by Snell with 5:51 left, and took a 56-53 lead after two free throws by Terraya Richardson with 2:10 left capped a 6-0 run.