RICHMOND, Va. – The fans inside the Robins Center were treated with a basketball game to remember on Sunday afternoon, an overtime thriller seeing the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fall in a 94-90 defeat to Richmond.
 
Mackenzie Smith tallied a career-high for the Hawks, scoring 38 points in the narrow defeat. The sophomore scored 17 of St. Joe's final 21 points, but the Hawks (15-6, 5-4 A-10) fell at the hands of the Spiders (13-7, 3-4) in a game to remember.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Each team traded five points to start the game, the hosts knocking down two quick buckets before a Mackenzie Smith three pointer and a pair of Talya Brugler free throws leveled the action. Both teams combined for 5-20 (25.0%) from the field in the opening five minutes of play.
• Both teams traded buckets over the remaining first quarter, the Hawks getting the last opportunity as a second chance bucket from Laura Ziegler with a second remaining gave SJU a 15-13 lead after 10 minutes.
• A slow start to the second quarter found a fuse after Richmond's Sydney Boone knocked down a triple from seven feet behind the line as the shot clock expired, giving the Spiders a 19-15 advantage.
• Six of the next seven buckets from either team were from range, the Hawks with the advantage during that time as Olivia Mullins' trey from the corner regained an advantage for the Hawks at 26-25.
• After the Spiders tied the game at 28-28, Julia Nyström used a timely pair of threes to keep the offense humming over the final five minutes to break a slump of four games without converting from deep.
• Richmond delivered the final punch of the first half after Maggie Doogan dropped her second three of the game over her defender to give the hosts a 36-34 halftime lead.
• The Spiders kept the momentum from early game three-point shooting, knocking down their first three treys to extend an advantage to 50-42 to force a timeout for the Crimson and Gray.
• Trailing by as many as 10, the Hawks trimmed the deficit in the final minute to 59-53 headed into the final frame.
• The Hawks had multiple attempts to get back into the game over the first five minutes, Richmond countering each opportunity. Katie Jekot worked through a screen to find her third three of the game, cutting the Spider lead to 70-65 with just under four minutes remaining. On the other end of the media timeout, the Hawks continued to a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to one with over three minutes remaining.
• With SJU trailing by four with just over a minute remaining, Smith took over for the Crimson and Gray. A scoop and score from the sophomore cut the deficit to two before a smooth stepback jumper equaled the scoring at 76-76 with 25 seconds left. The Spiders held for the final shot, but the SJU defense held strong with a stop to force overtime.
• St. Joe's scored the opening four points of the extra frame, but eight straight from the Spiders gave the hosts an 84-80 lead with 2:42 to play after back-to-back three point plays.
• Smith once again called her number, finishing at the rim to pick up her 30^th point of the basket to cut the lead to one possession. Scoring 12 of the 14 points for the Hawks in the overtime possession, Smith kept the Hawks within striking distance. Despite the heroics, the Spiders knocked down 11-13 free throws in the period to keep SJU at bay and walk out with a 94-90 win.

 
GAME NOTES

• 23 of Smith's game-high 38 points came in the final 15 minutes, shooting 9-10 in the fourth quarter and overtime periods. Smith also tied her career-mark with eight rebounds, dished three assists and recorded a block and a steal.
• The 38 points was tied for fourth-most in program history, only four shy of Dale Hodge's record of 42.
• Fouling out in overtime, Brugler continued her streak of 15-straight games in double figures with 14 points.
• Laura Ziegler posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. It was her fifth game with double-digit boards. It took just 15 in game minutes for Ziegler to post a new career-best in assists, dishing out all six in the first half to go along with her 10 first half rebounds.
• Katie Jekot finished with 11 points on her night with three assists and two steals.
• Julia Nyström finished with a multi-three game for the first time in 13 games, last doing so against Drexel (Dec. 4).
• The Hawks have scored 90+ points in back-to-back seasons just twice since the 1978-79 season. The 1977-78 team scored 90+ four-straight games.
• The 90 points was the most in program history in defeat.

UP NEXT

• The Hawks make a quick turnaround, traveling to Kingston, R.I. to take on the Rhode Island Rams on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.