Saint Joseph's (19-9, 9-7 A-10) vs. Davidson (14-15, 6-10 A-10)
Thursday, March 2 | 7:30 p.m. | CHASE Fieldhouse | Wilmington, Del.
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WILMINGTON, Del. - The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team begin its Atlantic 10 Tournament schedule with a matchup against Davidson on Thursday evening, taking on the Wildcats in the second round of the tourney at the CHASE Fieldhouse.
The Hawks meet Davidson in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament after the Wildcats cruised past St. Bonaventure 70-51 on Wednesday evening. In the last meeting, St. Joe's used a 34-point effort on 14-16 shooting from Talya Brugler and staved off a second half charge from the Wildcats to grab a 72-56 win.
The Hawks grabbed three players with All-Conference laurels, recognized earlier this week from the Atlantic 10. It is the most All-Conference honorees since the 2003-04 season. Laura Ziegler grabbed the second-straight Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors for St. Joe's, following in Talya Brugler's footsteps from a year ago. Ziegler, an 8x Rookie of the Week selection, became the fourth woman to win Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors to join Brugler, Hillary Klimowicz (2005-06) and Moran (1998-99). Ziegler also earned Third Team All-Conference and All-Rookie Team honors. Tayla Brugler followed her trajectory from last season's RoY award to an Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference selection in 2022-23, the first time a Hawk has made the first team since Natasha Cloud in 2014-15. Brugler posts a team-high 16.9 points per game headed into conference tournament action, the most points per game for an SJU player since Susan Lavin (nee Moran) tallied 23.3 points in 2001-02. Mackenzie Smith rounded off an impressive amount of accolades, earning her first major postseason honor with Third Team All-Conference recognition. Smith scored 13.9 points per game for the Hawks and grabbed her first career double-double on the year, highlighted by a 38-point effort against Richmond - t-4th most in single game SJU history.
Scouting The Wildcats
Shaking off four losses in its last five games, Davidson stuffed any worries about an opening-day defeat after taking down St. Bonaventure by 19 points in the opening round. The Wildcats boast one of the best field-goal percentages in the conference while also converting on 74.3% of its free-throw attempts. The Wildcats aren't afraid to let it fly, averaging around 20 three-point attempts per game.
Elle Sutphin leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds a night in conference play, earning her Second Team All-Atlantic 10 recognition from the coaches. Sutphin nearly shoots 50% per game, while also leading the Wildcats in steals (35) and blocks (30). Suzi-Rose Deegan also adds 14.1 points per contest and 6.5 rebounds. Issy Morgan creates for the offense with a team-high 89 assists while pitching in 7.5 points.
Conference Recognition
St. Joe's enters the tournament off the back of the Atlantic 10 Conference awards, where three Hawks earned All-Conference Team honors. Laura Ziegler, the second-straight Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, made Third Team All-Conference and All-Rookie Team honors alongside being the best rookie in the league. Mackenzie Smith joined Ziegler on the Third Team while Talya Brugler was named to the First Team as the first Hawk since Natasha Cloud in 2014-15 to do so. The three Hawks were the first time since 2003-04 that three found their way on the conference team.
Lining Up
Ranking as high as 10th in the country in free throws a few weeks ago, the Hawks found it tough to collect from the charity stripe heading into the season finale. Shooting 77.3% as a team, the Hawks have converted under 70% of their attempts in four of the last six games - combining for 24-42 (57.1%) from the foul line. Against Duquesne, the Hawks remedied poor free throw shooting with a 15-17 (88.2%) night from the line.
