Women's Basketball Welcomes Maine to Hagan Arena

12/8/2024 5:27:00 PM

Saint Joseph's (6-2) vs. Maine (3-6)

AT THE TIP

The Hawks host Maine for the start of a four-game homestand, beginning with the Black Bears on Monday evening.
St. Joe's comes off the back of a dominant second half to earn third place in the Big 5 Classic after defeating Drexel on Friday evening. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT

The Hawks rebounded for a convincing win over Drexel in the Big 5 Classic tripleheader on Friday evening, allowing just 17 points in the second half to cruise to a 69-47 win over the Dragons.
St. Joe's fell in a quick disadvantage, Drexel opening the contest with a 9-3 start. The Hawks' offense grew into the game, able to take a two-point lead after the first and a five-point advantage at the half. Saint Joseph's held the Dragons to just 30.8% from the field in the second half to ensure a comfortable 22-point victory to claim third place in the Big 5.
Talya Brugler nearly registered the second triple-double in the program in nine days, finishing with 10 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
Mackenzie Smith kept on fire start-to-finish for 23 points, while Laura Ziegler (17) and Gabby Casey (11) added double figures.

HAWKS IN THE NCAA RANKS

The Hawks rank seventh in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.50) and eighth in the country in assists per game (19.9).
St. Joe's ranks sixth in the country in three-point percentage (41.0%). The Hawks also rank as one of the most elite shooting teams from the foul line, sitting third at 82.9% from the charity stripe.
Laura Ziegler's six double-doubles on the season ranks fifth in the NCAA, sitting 18th in the country with 10.5 rebounds per game.
Talya Brugler ranks fifth in free throw percentage with a 95.5% clip the free throw line (min. 15 made).
Only Creighton (81.8%) has had a better free throw percentage since the start of the 2023-24 season than Saint Joseph's (81.3%).

MILESTONE MARKS

Head Coach Cindy Griffin earned her 400th win at the helm of St. Joe's over Syracuse and her 450th career win against Southern Utah.
Mackenzie Smith sits one point shy of Alyssa Monaghan (2015-19) for 13th in scoring in program history.
Talya Brugler and Smith became the 64th and 65th Hawk to reach 100 career games played at St. Joe's, each fewer than six starts to become the 12th and 13th Hawk to start in 100 games for St. Joe's.
Brugler became the 24th Hawk in program history to record 500 rebounds in a career after surpassing the feat against Penn. Brugler also tied Angela Zampella and Trish Brown for sixth in scoring in program history (1,509).
Laura Ziegler needs just 50 points to become the 31st Hawk in program history to reach 1,000 career points.

SERIES REWIND

Saint Joseph's welcomes Maine to Hawk Hill for the third time in program history, just the fourth matchup between these two teams.
All four meetings between the teams have come since the turn of the century, head coach Cindy Griffin at the helm of the Hawks in all three previous meetings.
The home team has won in each matchup leading up to Monday's contest, averaging a 22 point margin of victory. St. Joe's has won each of the matchups against the Black Bears at home, welcoming Maine inside Hagan Arena for the first time.