SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Talya Brugler and Mackenzie Smith combined for 54 points as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team cruised to an 84-70 win on the road to Syracuse inside the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday afternoon.
 
The 54 points between Brugler and Smith were just four points shy of a matching the program record of points by a duo. Dale Hodges (32) and Kim Foley (26) combined for 58 against BYU on November 26, 1988 before Hodges (27) partnered with Ellen Shields (31) for 58 in a win over St. Bonaventure on January 4, 1990.
 
Saint Joseph's women's head coach Cindy Griffin also reached her 400^th career win in charge of the program with the win.
 
FIRST QUARTER

• The hosts scored the first four points of the game before Talya Brugler got the Hawks on the board with a pair of free throws. A Brugler triple gave the Hawks their first lead of the game moments later at 7-6.
• Sophie Burrows nailed a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions leading into the media timeout to give the Orange a 12-7 advantage. Syracuse extended the run to 12-2 on the other end of the break, forcing a timeout from Coach Griffin.
• Mackenzie Smith scored the final five points of the frame for the Hawks, cutting the deficit to 22-14 after the opening 10 minutes.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Brugler opened the second quarter with an 8-0 personal run to drag the Hawks level at 22-22, forcing Syracuse to call a timeout to extinguish the momentum swing.
• After Syracuse responded out of the timeout, Ziegler registered a three-pointer of her own to give the Hawks a one-point lead.
• Another seven-point spurt from Brugler built the Hawk advantage to two possessions before Gabby Casey buried a three from the wing to push St. Joe's in front, 37-32.
• Syracuse cut the visitors' lead to 39-36 with a pair of free throws on its final possession of the half.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• Smith continued the hot shooting for the Hawks on the other side of the break, knocking down the first seven points for St. Joe's.
• After Brugler played provider on an inside feed to Ziegler, the senior knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the contest. Gabby Casey kept the possession alive on the next possession with an offensive rebound before a pair of quick passes found a wide-open Smith for another triple to grab her 10^th point of the quarter and put the Hawks up 54-42 at the media timeout.
• Aleah Snead earned a three-point play the old-fashioned way, securing a board on the offensive glass and fighting through contact to knock down the basket. The Hawks built the lead to as many as 17 points with under a minute to play after Casey knocked down another three from the wing.
• St. Joe's took a 65-51 advantage into the final frame after a Cuse triple with 30 seconds remaining cut the score to 65-51.

 
 
FOURTH QUARTER

• Syracuse scored five of the first seven points of the final quarter to cut the deficit to 11, but the veteran Hawk squad remained unfazed. Smith started an 11-1 run for the Hawks, with baskets from Brugler and Ziegler on the fastbreak helping extend the lead to a game-high 21-point margin.
• A 10-3 run from the Orange brought the advantage down to 81-67, but the hosts inched no closer as the Hawks walked off the court as 84-70 victors.

 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Talya Brugler led all scorers with 29 points. The senior finished the afternoon 10-15 from the floor, 5-6 from distance and 4-4 from the free throw line. Brugler added six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
• 20 of Brugler's 29 points came in the first half, including a 6-6 (3-3 from 3FG) effort in the second quarter.
• Mackenzie Smith added 25 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals on the night. The Canadian guard joined Brugler with five three-point field goals on the night, both setting career-highs.
• The win over Syracuse marked just the fourth time in program history that two different Hawks each recorded five three-pointers in the same game, the first time since Alyssa Monaghan (7) and Kristalyn Baisden (5) achieved the feat in a win over Niagara (November 12, 2017).
• Emma Boslet commanded the game at point guard, doubling her previous career-high with 10 assists while adding five rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Katie Jekot was the last Hawk to reach double-digit assists with 11 at La Salle on December 31, 2022.
•  Laura Ziegler finished as the third Hawk in double-digits with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Ziegler also recorded a pair of steals and blocks in the win.
• Gabby Casey added eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win.
• The Hawks shot 30-64 (46.9%) from the field, including a 14-26 (53.8%) effort from range. St. Joe's went above 50.0% from three, last doing so with a 19-36 (52.8%) effort against Fordham on December 30, 2023.
• St. Joe's also finished 10-11 from the free throw line for a 90.9% rate.
• Saint Joseph's recorded 23 assists on 30 made baskets while blocking seven shots and tallying 12 steals.
• The Hawks earned the first win over Syracuse in program history, entering the day at 0-4 against the Orange.
• Cindy Griffin reached 400 wins at the helm of her alma mater, now sitting at 448 career wins.
• The Hawks earned their third win over a Power 5 program in the last three seasons, adding this afternoon to the wins over Vanderbilt and California.
• St. Joe's tallied its first win over an ACC school since defeating Boston College 74-57 on December 29, 2011. Cal was a member of the Pac-12 when the Hawks defeated them in the WBIT last year before making the move over to the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 2024-25 season.

 
 
UP NEXT
St. Joe's returns to Philadelphia for the first Big 5 contest of the season, meeting Penn at The Palestra on Friday, November 15. Tip is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.