PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team rallied from a deficit of nine late in the third quarter, coming all the way back to defeat Duquesne 64-60 on Senior Day inside Hagan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win ensured the Hawks an opening round bye in the A-10 Tournament, moving to 19-9 on the year and 9-7 in conference play. Duquesne falls to 18-11 (8-8 Atlantic 10).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Mackenzie Smith started the scoring for the Hawks with the opening bucket of the game, but Duquesne followed with a 7-0 run before a Talya Brugler lead stopped the spurt.
• A defensive effort in the first 10 minutes, neither team shot above 30% from the field as the Dukes took a 12-9 advantage.
• Smith opened the second with a triple to level the score, but the visitors would increase their lead to as many as seven midway through the frame. St. Joe's would trim the deficit to 27-25 as the halftime buzzer sounded.
• Duquesne raced out to as much as a nine-point lead in the third, leading the Hawks 45-36 with three minutes remaining. St. Joe's finished on an 8-2 run, cutting the deficit to 47-44 at the end of the third.
• Katie Jekot got the offense started in the opening seconds of the fourth, knocking down a triple to tie the game and continue the run. Back-to-back dishes to Talya Brugler from Jekot extended the spurt to 15-2, forcing a Duquesne timeout with the Hawks leading 51-47.
• After both teams traded baskets for the next four minutes of the contest, back-to-back buckets for Brugler gave her 25 on the day and kept the Hawks up by three. After Laura Ziegler was fed down low from Brugler to finish and put the Hawks up 61-56, Duquesne responded with two-straight buckets to cut the lead to one with under a minute to play.
• Waiting to the end of the shot clock, Smith cut to the basket and beat her defender. Through traffic, Smith was able to lay in a tough finish to put the Hawks back up by three.
• Julia Nyström stepped up to make the most important play of the day, stealing the ball on the ensuing possession to force the Dukes to foul.
• Jekot's free throw with 10 seconds left pushed it to two possessions as the Hawks were able to come back and take down Duquesne 64-60 inside Hagan Arena.

 
GAME NOTES

• Brugler shined with a game-high 25 points, 16 of them coming in the second half. Brugler also added eight rebounds on the day. Brugler now has 25+ points in three of her last four games.
• Mackenzie Smith tallied 23 points of her own, shooting 7-14 from the field and 8-9 from the charity stripe. The sophomore tied her career-high with three blocks, also set in a game against Duquesne last season.
• Laura Ziegler finished two points shy of her ninth double-double, grabbing eight points and 12 rebounds. The Danish forward has now secured 10+ boards in seven of her last eight games, averaging over 12 boards per game in that span.
• Jaden Walker was honored as the lone senior on the squad prior to the game, finishing with four rebounds on the afternoon after getting into early foul trouble.
• The Hawks shot 15-17 from the free throw line for 88.2%, having shot 57.1% from the free throw line the past five games.
• From the floor, the Hawks were 23-57 (40.4%). SJU held Duquesne to 25-65 (38.5%).
• Entering as one of the best in the country in not losing the ball, the Hawks turned the ball over just nine times.
• St. Joe's are now 28-3 all-time against Duquesne at home.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks look to find their fate for the A-10 Tournament, the event starting March 1 in Wilmington, Del. at the CHASE Fieldhouse.