PHILADELPHIA – Mackenzie Smith and
Talya Brugler scored 32 of the 40 second half points for St. Joe's as the women's basketball team defeated Drexel in 64-53 fashion at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Sunday evening.
Saint Joseph's moves to 4-0 on the season for the second-straight year, 2-0 against Philadelphia opponents. Drexel falls to 2-2 in the loss.
FIRST QUARTER
- St. Joe's tallied an 11-3 advantage in shots and six offensive rebounds in the first five minutes, but could only muster a 6-4 advantage headed into the media timeout.
- After 16 points in the win against Penn, Gabby Casey checked in to immediately make an impact. The rookie spun her defender before stepping back and burying a three to extend the Hawk lead. On the other end, Casey went up with a Drexel player to contest the shot, ripping the ball out of her hands and ending the Dragon possession.
SECOND QUARTER
- Drexel scored on the opening possession of the frame, but the Hawk defense locked down for the better part of the quarter. A 7-0 run was sparked by a 4:54 scoring drought from the Dragons, going 0-6 over that span.
- St. Joe's held as many as a nine-point advantage with just under four minutes remaining before a two-plus minute drought by both teams saw the offense stall.
- Drexel outscored SJU 5-2 over the final two minutes to cut the Hawk lead to 24-18 heading into the break.
THIRD QUARTER
- The Hawks offense came out of the locker room with a point to prove, Chloe Welch starting a run just 11 seconds in with a backdoor layup. Two three-pointers from Mackenzie Smith in as many possessions gave the Hawks a quick 10-2 run to force a Dragon timeout.
- Points on four-straight possessions, encapsulated by a strong finish at the rim for Talya Brugler saw the Hawks extend the lead to 42-24, forcing another timeout from Drexel in just the opening 6:40 of the quarter.
- An 8-3 Drexel run to finish the quarter cut the SJU advantage to 45-32 headed into the final frame.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Two different 7-2 runs by the Dragons put them right back in the game, the Hawk lead cutting to just 53-46 with under three to play. Smith slowed the momentum, fighting off contact to finish at the rim for her 11th point to put the Hawks up by nine.
- Smith scored nine of the final 11 points for the Hawks, who were able to fend off late pressure to leave the Daskalakis Athletic Center with a 64-53 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Talya Brugler finished with a game-high 26 points, adding 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of her career. Brugler shot 6-6 from the free throw line while adding two steals in the win.
- Mackenzie Smith scored all 18 of her points in the second half, adding five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
- Chloe Welch padded the stat sheet, finishing with seven points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
- Laura Ziegler finished two points shy of her 11th double-double, adding eight points and 12 rebounds in the win. Ziegler also tied her career-high with six assists in the win.
- Brugler was 6-11 in the first half, the rest of the team a combined 4-21 (19.0%) from the field. As a team, the Hawks shot just 31.3% in the first 20 minutes. The Dragons were held to 6-21 from the floor in the first half, only 28.6% from the field.
- St. Joe's improved its total by shooting 24-55 (43.6%) from the floor on the evening, Drexel finishing 21-53 (39.6%) from the field and 1-6 (16.7%) from distance.
- Both teams allowed season-highs in points, the 53 from Drexel the first time the Hawks conceding 50 points. SJU posted its third-lowest scoring defense after four games in program history, the fewest points allowed after four games in Head Coach Cindy Griffin's tenure.
- The Hawks held the lead for 39:07, never trailing over the course of the game against the Dragons.
- Coach Griffin is now 10-10 against Drexel, SJU moving to 12-10 overall against the city rivals. Prior to tonight, the Hawks were just 2-8 on the road against Drexel.
UP NEXT
The Hawks conclude a three-game Philadelphia road trip when they take on Temple on Wednesday, November 22. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. t 4:30 p.m.