VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fell to a ranked Wildcat team that caught fire, #25 Villanova defeating SJU 82-59 inside the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
 
Saint Joseph's (9-1, 2-1 Big 5) was on the wrong end of a blistering Villanova (9-2, 3-0 Big 5) team that found rhythm early on and often, using a 28-8 advantage in the first quarter to stave off a Hawk team that rallied throughout the final 30 minutes.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Wildcats started on a strong note, dropping the first eight points of the contest to take an early lead, the largest that the Hawks had faced all season.
• Julia Nyström scored the first four points of the quarter for the Hawks, but a 7-0 run in the span of 1:16 pushed the Wildcat lead to 21-6 with three minutes remaining in the first.
• Trailing by 24 in the early stages of the second, the Hawks connected on back-to-back threes from Laura Ziegler and Olivia Mullins to cut the lead to 18.
• Another good spurt offensively saw the Hawks grab baskets on three consecutive baskets to cut the lead to as little as 15, but the Wildcats had responses with a pair of triples to increase their advantage. Nova was able to extend the lead back to 19, heading into the break up 45-26.
• The Wildcats extended the lead by as much as 25, but the Hawks rallied with an 11-0 run to cut deficit to as little as 14, the lowest since the first quarter. Four different scorers during that run helped propel the Crimson and Gray, led by Talya Brugler with five of the 11. Villanova ended the run with a second chance opportunity, knocking down from distance at the buzzer.
• Villanova used the triple to start a 9-0 run through to the fourth before Emma Boslet knocked down her second triple of the game to stop the run.
• Despite the attempt down the stretch to erase the margin, Villanova's early first quarter efforts proved too much to overcome, the hosts defeating SJU 82-59.

 
GAME NOTES

• The Hawks trailed for just 23:33 of the entire year heading into the contest, but battled from behind for 39:45 on the day.
• The second-best start in program history comes to a close one game shy of tying the record in 1984-85.
• Villanova used a 17-24 (70.8%) effort from the field in the first half to grab their advantage, 7-11 (63.6%) from behind the arc. VU finished 29-53 (54.7%) from the field and 13-20 (65.0%) from distance.
• A 2-13 effort from the field in the first quarter stunted the Hawks, who shot 18-41 (43.9%) through the final three quarters.
• The starters for SJU scored all 26 of the first half points.
• Brugler led the Hawks with 14 points and five rebounds, Mackenzie Smith also finishing in double digits with 12 on the afternoon.
• Nyström tallied eight points, four assists and three rebounds on her first start of the season.
• Katie Jekot was unavailable for the contest after suffering a lower body injury in the fourth quarter against Rider. The sixth-year guard was marked day-to-day prior to the contest but was unable to go. Freshman Emi Devenie was also not available for the match.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks take finals week off before hosting the 27^th Annual Hawk Classic on December 20-21, opening the tournament with Wright State at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 20.