PHILADELPHIA – Laura Ziegler started and finished the scoring on Sunday afternoon to help the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team to a 70-62 Atlantic 10 opening win over VCU in a toughly contested matchup inside Hagan Arena.
 
Ziegler became the 31^st player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, finishing the game with 18 points and seven rebounds. Mackenzie Smith tallied a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds, while Talya Brugler finished with 13 points.
 
Valentina Ojeda added 21 points on 8-9 attempts from the field, while Grace Hutson (12) and Mary-Anna Asare (11) added double-digit scoring for the Rams.
 
Three ties and four lead changes encompassed the opening 20 minutes as VCU (6-7, 0-1 Atlantic 10) took a three-point lead into the half. A 16-5 run for St. Joe's (10-2, 1-0 Atlantic 10) to start the second half gave the Hawks as many as an eight-point advantage headed into the final frame.
 
An 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter saw the Rams take their first lead in nearly 14 minutes before Laura Ziegler snatched it back for the Hawks on the ensuing possession. The Saint Joseph's lead never vanquished the rest of the way, the one-score advantage finally increasing to multiple possessions after back-to-back and-ones from Emma Boslet and Mackenzie Smith put the game out of reach in the final minutes of the game.
 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ziegler's basket on the first possession pushed her over 1,000 career points, the 31^st player in program history to achieve the milestone. The junior needed 74 games to reach 1,000 points, the fourth-quickest to do so after Dale Hodges (53), Susan Moran (64) and Talya Brugler (72).
• Smith scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half, finishing 8-14 (57.1%) from the field, 5-8 (62.5%) from three and 4-5 (80.0%) from the line. The senior from Shelburne, Nova Scotia registered her fifth 20-point game of the season, adding season-highs in rebounds (8) and assists (4). Smith also became the 12^th Hawk to reach 100 career starts.
• Emma Boslet finished with six points, both coming off three-point plays after finishing 2-2 from the line. All six points came in the final four minutes in a one-point game.
• Talya Brugler was a perfect 6-6 inside the arc, adding six rebounds and four assists to her 13 points. The senior forward has scored in double-figures in 15-consecutive games and in 86 games in her career.
• Rhian Stokes scored all six of the Hawks' bench points, outscoring the entirety of the VCU bench (2).
• Saint Joseph's finished 24-56 (42.9%) from the floor, only the third time that VCU allowed an opponent higher than 40% from the field.
• The Hawks finished 14-16 from the charity stripe for an 87.5% clip.
• St. Joe's improves to 8-4 over VCU at home.  

 
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks head to Fairfax, Virginia for a clash between two teams at the top of the conference standings, meeting George Mason for a noon tip on Thursday, January 2.