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Saint Joseph's University

Saint Joseph's Hawks
Saint Joseph's Hawks
Brugler picking up Smith
Ryan Samson/Sideline Photos, LLC
78
Winner James Madison JMU 10-2,0-0 Sun Belt
66
Saint Joseph's SJU 10-2,0-0 Atlantic 10
Winner
James Madison JMU
10-2,0-0 Sun Belt
78
Final
66
Saint Joseph's SJU
10-2,0-0 Atlantic 10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
James Madison JMU 17 15 19 27 78
Saint Joseph's SJU 22 9 19 16 66

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Hawks Fall to James Madison in Championship Game of the Hawk Classic

PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fell in the championship game of the Hawk Classic on Wednesday afternoon, a 27-point fourth quarter from James Madison giving the Dukes a 78-66 edge over the Hawks inside Hagan Arena.
 
A career night from Mackenzie Smith had celebrations cut short as the Hawks (10-2) settled for runners-up in the 27th Annual Hawk Classic, James Madison (10-2) hoisting the trophy for the first time in its second appearance in the event, last joined in 1994. Both Smith and Talya Brugler were awarded with a spot on the Hawk Classic All-Tournament Team with their efforts over the past two days.

HAWK CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Bryce Nixon - WSU
Ce'Nara Skanes - EMU
Mackenzie Smith - SJU
Talya Brugler - SJU
Jamia Hazell - JMU
Kseniia Kozlova - JMU (MVP)

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The Hawks opened on a 10-4 run to start the game, including a pair of triples by Laura Ziegler and Mackenzie Smith before back-to-back threes from the Dukes leveled the game at 10.
  • Smith responded with her second triple of the game, giving the Hawks as many threes in the first four minutes and change of the game as they had all of yesterday against Wright St.
  • SJU increased its lead to 20-12 after Smith knocked down her third from deep on the day, scoring 13 of the first 20 points for the Hawks before a second foul sent her to the bench. After five points from the Dukes, Olivia Mullins called her own number as time expired, getting a friendly roll after driving into the lane to finish the quarter ahead 22-17.
  • The Dukes were able to clamp down on defense over the course of the second, the Hawks shooting just 4-11 (36.4%) from the field before half. A six-point advantage over the Hawks allowed James Madison to take its first lead of the game just 39 seconds remaining in the half, taking the 32-31 lead into the locker room.
  • Back out on the court in the third quarter, it took Smith just five minutes to tally seven more points, giving her 20 in just 14 minutes of play to take a 44-43 lead. The Hawks and Dukes traded baskets on nine separate occasions to retake the advantage before JMU scored four points to extend the lead to as much as three. The Crimson and Gray responded with four-straight points of their own through none other than Smith before the final basket of the quarter came from the Dukes for a 51-50 lead.
  • Jamia Hazell took the game into her hands in the fourth quarter for the Dukes, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the final frame to help push the visitors up to multiple possession advantages. A 7-0 JMU run from Hazell (4) and Kiki Jefferson (3) put the game to double-digits in the latter stages of the fourth quarter, the Hawks unable to collect stops in a row to trim the deficit back below nine as James Madison took home the trophy with a 78-66 win over SJU.
 
GAME NOTES
  • Smith's 31 points came on 11-19 (57.9%) from the floor, including a 4-10 clip from deep. The 31 points marks the first time since the 2017-18 season a Hawk player dropped 30+ points, last achieved by Chelsea Woods (33) against VCU on February 27, 2018.
  • Smith combined for 52 points over the course of the two days on just 29 shot attempts.
  • Olivia Mullins also recorded a career-high 12 points in the defeat after playing the full 40 minutes, adding another six assists to her game to match her career-mark for the third time as a Hawk. Mullins averaged 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists through the two days.
  • Talya Brugler finished with 13 points and five rebounds, averaging 20 points per game in the Hawk Classic.
  • For the second-straight game, the Hawks did not record a point off the bench.
  • SJU finished 25-62 (40.3%) from the field and 6-28 (21.4%) from deep, while JMU was 30-63 (47.6%) and 5-16 (31.3%) from beyond the arc. Jefferson and Kseniia Keslova led the Dukes with 18 points each, Hazell and Peyton McDaniel each adding 13 points.
  • Katie Jekot remained unavailable for the third-straight matchup after being sidelined with a lower body injury suffered in the fourth quarter at Rider.
 
UP NEXT
  • The Hawks take a 10-day hiatus for winter break before gearing up for the Atlantic 10 opener against crosstown rivals, La Salle. St. Joe's heads to Tom Gola Arena for the Big 5/A-10 matchup on December 31 at 2 p.m.
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