BOSTON, Mass. – Saint Joseph's women's basketball continues to roll in the early season, grabbing its eighth-consecutive win of the year by defeating Boston University in a 62-47 victory on the road on Tuesday evening.
 
The second-best start of the Coach Griffin era (last season's 9-0 start) has the Hawks at 8-0 on the year. Boston University falls to 5-3 on the season in the defeat.
 
FIRST QUARTER

• The Terriers opened with the first four points, giving the Hawks their largest deficit of the season. The Hawks countered as Chloe Welch opened the scoring with a crafty reverse layup before Mackenzie Smith buried a three to give St. Joe's the lead.
• Boston University suffered an early blow, Anete Adler needing help off the court after scoring the first six points for the hosts.
• Early foul trouble saw Talya Brugler and Welch get an early pull, each whistled twice in the opening frame.
• St. Joe's finished the quarter on a 6-0 run, capped off by a Gabby Casey fadeaway jumper in the paint to put the Hawks up 15-10.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Both offenses were silent through the opening two minutes of the quarter, BU getting on the board first after splitting a pair of free throws.
• The Hawks answered through Laura Ziegler, who knocked down a contested midrange for her second bucket of the game. The Hawks would convert on three-straight possessions as Smith and Ziegler buried back-to-back threes to force a Terrier timeout.
• Out of the timeout, Smith made a highlight-level play after going airborne to swat a three-point attempt from the Terriers. The junior picked up the loose ball and then proceeded to scoop in the layup.
• After another Smith layup, the hosts were able to shift the momentum to go on a 12-5 run to cut the deficit back into single-digits.
• Smith helped extinguish the Terrier run, hitting her third three of the half after a Paula Maurina putback to give the Hawks a 37-23 lead. Boston University would add two points at the buzzer, cutting the margin at halftime to 12.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• After being limited to just seven minutes in the first half, Brugler was able to grab her first bucket of the game three minute into the quarter to extend the Hawk lead back to 12. Moments later, Brugler was beneficiary to a favorable bounce off the rim to grab a putback bucket, Smith doing so only a moment later to give St. Joe's a 48-33 lead and force another timeout by the hosts.
• The Terriers were able to trim the Hawk lead to as little as eight points with two minutes left in the quarter.
• Smith finished off a small 4-0 spurt to give the Hawks a 54-42 lead headed into the final 10 minutes.

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• Welch opened the scoring as she did in the first quarter for the Hawks, quickly putting the visitors up by 14.
• A near-six-minute drought allowed the Terriers to climb back within 10, a bucket with 5:36 remaining cutting the score to 56-47.
• Julia Nyström ended the drought with a three from the corner, and a 6-0 run over the last five and a half minutes allowed the Hawks to run the time down and walk out with a 62-47 victory on the road.

 
GAME NOTES

• 18 of Mackenzie Smith's 22 points (7-11 FG, 3-4 3PT) came in the first half, leading all scorers on the evening. The Canadian added four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in the win.
• Laura Ziegler added a game-high 11 rebounds along with her seven points and five assists, also adding two blocks in the win.
• Brugler finished with 13 points, all coming in the second half. The junior was just 3-5 from the field, finishing 7-10 from the free throw line.
• Turnovers hampered the Hawks, who shot 23-51 (45.1%) from the field. However, St. Joe's committed a season-high 18 turnovers.
• The Hawks dominated the glass with a 38-23 advantage in rebounds. St. Joe's also minimized the BU offense to just 20-51 (39.2%) from the field, the seventh opponent held under 40% in the 8-0 start.
• St. Joe's is now 6-0 in road games this year.
• The Hawks have won eight-straight games in the series after dropping the opening matchup. St. Joe's is 2-1 on the road against Boston University.

 
UP NEXT
The Hawks have a short turnaround before hosting #11/7 Utah inside Hagan Arena, taking on the Utes in a Thursday night matchup. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m.