ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team returned to winning ways on Tuesday evening, defeating reigning Atlantic 10 Tournament champion Saint Louis in a 69-57 victory inside Chaifetz Arena.
 
The Hawks improve to 14-2 (3-1 Atlantic 10) on the season, Saint Louis falling to 6-11 (1-3 Atlantic 10).
 
 
FIRST QUARTER

• As the Hawks' offense took some time to get started, it was the defense that locked down the Billikens to allow just four points over the opening seven minutes for the hosts. Meanwhile, the Hawks were able to knock down a pair of threes by Mackenzie Smith and Julia Nyström over that span with a pair of free throws giving St. Joe's an 8-4 lead.
• An injection off the bench saw Emma Boslet and Gabby Casey each knock down triples of their own, the Hawks using the deep ball to inject their offense early.
• Laura Ziegler would score the first field goal inside the arc late in the stretch as the Hawks took a 16-8 advantage into the second quarter.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Casey started the quarter as she finished the last, knocking down another deep ball to push the lead into double digits. Casey then showed her craftiness by pickpocketing Kyla McMakin off a rebound under the basket before finishing strong for her eighth point of the game.
• Back-to-back layups from Smith helped kickstart a quick 7-2 run, Chloe Welch finishing the spurt with her first three of the night.
• Talya Brugler scored five-straight points on back-to-back possessions to extend the Hawk advantage to as many as 17 points.
• The lead would stay at 17 heading into the half as Welch found Ziegler wide open as time expired, the sophomore knocking down a three from the wing to give St. Joe's a 37-20 advantage at the break.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• The Hawks weathered an early storm as the Billikens scored the first five points to cut the deficit to 12.
• St. Joe's made six of their first eight baskets of the quarter, able to keep the Billikens from cutting the deficit to single digits until the final possession.
• Saint Louis more than doubled the output of the first half with 25 points in the frame, using a basket in the final seconds of the quarter to cut the deficit to 54-45 with 10 minutes to play.

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• The Billikens cut the lead to six just a minute and a half into the final quarter before Welch was able to respond.
• With points coming sparingly by either team over the next stretch, the Hawks again found an answer with the deficit cut to six as Ziegler knocked down a three with over two mutes remaining, free throws on the next possession again giving the Hawks a double-digit lead.
• Free throws and defense down the stretch allowed the Hawks to push back and win with a 69-57 victory on the road.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Four different Hawks entered double-figures, led by Laura Ziegler's game-highs in points (18) and rebounds (9).
• Mackenzie Smith also fell just short of a double-double with an 11-point, nine-rebound performance.
• Chloe Welch and Talya Brugler scored 15 and 11 points respectively, each dropping a team-high four dimes on the night.
• Gabby Casey led the bench scoring with eight points, her highest in nine games when she scored 10 against North Florida.
• Saint Joseph's only took 45 shots, connecting on 23 of them for a 51.1% clip. The Hawks also enjoyed success from deep with a 9-22 (40.9%) effort from deep.
• St. Joe's held Saint Louis nearly 17 points under their season average of 73.8 per game, allowing just 23-64 (35.9%) from the field and 3-18 (16.7%) from deep.
• The Hawks move to 14-2 on the year, the third time under Coach Griffin that the Crimson and Gray reached the mark.
• The 8-0 start on the road matches Georgetown as the only teams in the NCAA with at least eight wins and zero losses away from home.

 
 
UP NEXT
St. Joe's returns home for a doubleheader with the men on Saturday, January 13. The Hawks host Duquesne in a 12 p.m. matchup and can be streamed on ESPN+.