Saint Joseph's (18-8, 8-6 A-10) at George Mason (14-14, 7-8 A-10)
Wednesday, February 22 | 7:00 p.m. | EagleBank Arena | Fairfax, Va.
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Saint Joseph's: Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Notes
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FAIRFAX, Va. - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team packs for its final road trip of the regular season, heading to Virginia to take on George Mason in the penultimate game of the 2022-23 conference slate.
St. Joe's is coming off a heartbreaking defeat to Rhode Island on Sunday, having lost the game by three points after an off-balanced three-pointer with 1.1s left connected for the Rams to stun the Hagan Arena crowd. The Hawks led by 16-4 in the first quarter and held a 10-point lead after one, but the Rams chipped away over the course of the next few quarters before taking the lead in the late stages.
The Hawks moved to 0-2 against the joint-best team in the Atlantic 10, both games decided by one possession or overtime after an earlier 77-73 double-overtime thriller in Kingston saw Rhody squeak by the Crimson and Gray.
With her family present for the first time in her collegiate career, Danish freshman Laura Ziegler paced the Hawks with 20 points and 13 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Talya Brugler finished with 11 points on the day, having scored in double figures in 19 of the last 20 games and a team-high 23 times on the year. Mackenzie Smith also added 11 points, recording four assists, two steals and a block. Katie Jekot added eight points and six assists.
St. Joe's is 3-2 all-time inside of EagleBank Arena, including a win in last year's matchup. The Hawks are 6-3 on the season in Wednesday games entering the matchup with George Mason.
Scouting The Patriots
George Mason hosts its final home game of the season on Wednesday off the back of two-straight wins over Loyola Chicago and Fordham to move to 7-8 in conference play. The Patriots' strengths comes from field goal defense (38.6%) and on the glass (39.7 rebounds per game). George Mason is the most effective team in the conference at getting to the line, averaging nearly 20 free throws a game. However, the Patriots convert those freebies at a clip of 63.3%, last in the league.
Taylor Jameson leads the Patriots with 12.0 points per game, doing so by way of efficient shooting from the charity stripe at 78.4%. Sonia Smith adds 10.8 per night with 67 assists on the year, second-most on the team. One of the A-10's best at cleaning up the glass, Nalani Kaysia adds 9.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, nearly doubling the next best rebounder on the squad. Paula Suarez leads the offense with 86 assists and a 1.21 assist-turnover ratio.
Foul Play
Scoring nine of her 11 points in the second half, Talya Brugler was held without a free throw in the home loss to Rhode Island. The 0-0 mark from the charity stripe was only the second time this season Brugler was held without a free throw attempt, the first since the season opener against Bucknell.
Hagan Heartbreak
The Hawks suffered defeat against Rhode Island for the second time this year on Sunday, the second time doing so in heartbreaking fashion. After falling to the Rams in double overtime at Kingston, SJU held a two-point lead with under a minute remaining before Rhode Island rattled off five-straight points, including a game-winning off balanced three with 1.1s remaining.
Down To The Wire
The closing stages of the Atlantic 10 look to be an exciting one for the neutral, eight teams still in contention for a double-bye weekend at the A-10 Tournament. The Hawks sit at 8-6 with two other teams in a tie for fourth place, George Washington holding a one-game advantage at 9-5. SJU could finish as high as third in the league or as low as 10th with two games to play.
The Great Dane
Laura Ziegler has tallied seven double-doubles so far this year, leading the team. Currently, Ziegler is one of just two Hawks over the last 13 seasons to average at least 11 points and eight rebounds a game - joining Chatilla van Grinsven's 2012-13 season. Ziegler leads the team in rebounds (8.9) and is third on the team in points (11.7). Ziegler also has more than double the blocks (37) than any other player on the roster, the rest of the team with just 45 blocks combined. In A-10 play, Ziegler has bumped her average to 13.1 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. Ziegler has posted at least seven points in every conference game, recording at least seven rebounds in 12 of the 14 contests.
