Saint Joseph's (13-2, 3-0 A-10) vs. Loyola Chicago (6-10, 1-2 A-10)
Tuesday, January 10 | 7:00 p.m. | Hagan Arena | Philadelphia, Pa.
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GAMEDAY LINKS
Saint Joseph's: Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Notes
Loyola Chicago: Roster | Schedule | Stats | 

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team welcomes newly joined Loyola Chicago to the Atlantic 10, hosting the Ramblers in a midweek showdown on Tuesday evening inside Hagan Arena.

For the first time, the Hawks will host Loyola Chicago as Atlantic 10 foes when the Ramblers enter Hawk Hill on Tuesday evening. LUC, who entered the A-10 prior to the 2022-23 season, meets St. Joe's for just the second time in program history, the only other matchup coming in 1994. The Hawks look to do what their SJU counterparts did nearly 30 years ago and defend home territory, the Crimson and Gray entering 13-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

The 3-0 start to the Atlantic 10 season is the sixth time since Cindy Griffin's arrival on Hawk Hill that the Hawks started unbeaten over the first three games of conference action. SJU looks to match history with the 2001-02 team, the only other team under Coach Griffin to start a season 14-2.

St. Joe's comes off a 24-point thrashing over Saint Louis, the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent since beating La Salle 65-36 on January 8, 2021. The Hawks held the Billikens to just 22.4% shooting from the field, the seventh time in the last decade that the Crimson and Gray held an opponent to under 25% shooting from the field. The 47 points scored by Saint Louis also marks an opponent low on the year. After recording a double-double against GW, Laura Ziegler nearly hit another after finishing with game-highs in points (16) and rebounds (9). Talya Brugler's 13 points is her ninth-straight game with double figure scoring, while Olivia Mullins added 12 points for her fourth game in double-digits in the last five games.

Scouting The Ramblers
An up-and-down start awaited Loyola Chicago's start to Atlantic 10 action, the Ramblers' conference debut marking a 60-47 win over Saint Louis. Since then, double-digit home defeats to Richmond and Massachusetts have pushed the Ramblers to 6-10 overall, 1-2 in the conference. Loyola Chicago scores just 57.6 points per game, shooting under 40% from the field on the year. One of the best defenses on the perimeter, the Ramblers have held opposition to just 27.9% from deep.

LUC is led by a pair of double-digit scorers in Maya Chandler (11.8) and Sam Galanopoulos (10.0). The two also lead the team in steals with 22 and 18, respectively. Galanopoulos and Kira Chivers both have tallied 40 assists on the year. A rebound-by-committee team, Sitori Tanin leads the way with 4.9 boards per contest, chipping in 8.6 points on the offensive side of the ball.
 

Five For Four
Four weeks into the freshman season, Laura Ziegler earned a clean sweep of Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week awards, a fast start to life on Hawk Hill for the Denmark native. Putting up impressive numbers all year, the freshman grabbed her fifth award of the season after averaging 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in wins against George Washington and Saint Louis.

Ziegler collected her second collegiate double-double in the win over the Colonials, securing a career-high 13 rebounds and adding 10 points in the win. The rookie tied her career-high in points (16), falling one rebound shy of back-to-back double doubles against Saint Louis. Ziegler averages 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds, the only freshman and one of just six women since 2009-10 to average 10/7 for the Hawks.

7-7-7
Laura Ziegler has a knack for the 7th day of the month, tying her career-high 16 points for the third time on the season in the win over Saint Louis. Making her career debut on November 7, Ziegler posted 16 points for the first of three times on the season, adding seven rebounds and three steals. A month later, Ziegler was pivotal in a slim win over Rider for the Hawks to improve to 9-0, again scoring 16 points and recording 11 rebounds for her first collegiate double double. Ziegler once again tallied 16 points with an additional nine rebounds against the Billikens.

Banishing the Billikens
For the sixth time since 2001-02, the Hawks began the A-10 season with a 3-0 record, blowing past Saint Louis in the home opener, 71-47 last Saturday. The stifling defense limited Saint Louis to just 15-67 (22.4%), the seventh time SJU held an opponent to under 25% from the field since 2010. Four different scorers posted double figures, led by Laura Ziegler's 16 points. Emma Boslet had 10 points off the bench, more than the entire Saint Louis team (7).

Lining Up
One of the premier free throw shooting teams in the country, the Hawks rank 15th in the nation in free throw percentage (78.3%). The Crimson and Gray are led by Mackenzie Smith and Talya Brugler, who rank first and third respectively in the A-10 in both free throws made (63, 58) and attempts (82, 68). Smith ranks 54th in the country in attempts and 48th in the country in makes.

All Gas, No Brakes
The Hawks started the season 9-0, just the second time the Crimson and Gray achieved the feat in program history. The undefeated start gave the Hawks the best start to the season under head coach Cindy Griffin, a 7-0 start in the 2005-06 season the previous best. Only one team (1984-85) had a better undefeated start, winning its first 10 games before the first loss.

The Hawks are now 13-2 on the season for the first time since 2001-02, the only other team in Cindy Griffin's tenure as head coach to achieve that feat. The 01-02 team started 14-2 before dropping their third loss of the season. 

Jekot Serving Dishes
Katie Jekot remains one of the premier passers in the country entering her final season in the Crimson and Gray. The sixth year guard ranks second in the A-10 in assist-turnover ratio (2.56) and 22nd in the country. Her 5.3 assists per game rank 24th in the country. Jekot assists on 35.2% of made baskets for the Hawks, ranking 31st in the country.