PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team shot over 60% for the game as the Hawks rolled to a 74-48 victory over Maine inside Hagan Arena on Monday evening.
 
St. Joe's (7-2) finished the second half shooting 16-23 (69.6%) from the field, winning its second game in the last four days. Maine (3-7) dropped its third-consecutive contest.
 
 
FIRST QUARTER

• The Hawks assisted on the first five baskets to build an early 11-3 advantage, led by a quick four points and six rebounds from Laura Ziegler. Gabby Casey finished off the old-fashioned three-point play on the other end of the media timeout to extend the advantage to 12-3.
• Casey accounted for the final nine points of the quarter, scoring seven with an additional assist to Paula Maurina to give St. Joe's an 18-9 lead after 10 minutes.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Maine opened the quarter on a 7-3 run to reduce the gap to 21-16.
• Mackenzie Smith responded to a triple from the Black Bears with a three-pointer of her own to start a quick 7-0 answer for the Hawks to push the lead to double figures.
• The visitors chipped away at the lead, able to grab a basket as time expired to cut the St. Joe's advantage to 35-28 at the break.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• The teams were held to just one basket each over the first five minutes of the second half, combining for two field goals in the first nine attempts.
• Smith broke the cold spell with a drive to the basket midway through the quarter, finishing under the rim while drawing contact to go to the line for the three-point play.
• On the other end of the break, Smith finished off the and-one before banking in a three from the wing. A quick steal into a fastbreak layup capped off an 8-0 spurt and forced a Black Bear timeout with the Hawks leading by 14.
• Mackenzie Smith finished the quarter scorching the net from distance, knocking down three triples over the final 2:20 of the frame to help build a 56-41 advantage going into the last stanza.

 
 
FOURTH QUARTER

• St. Joe's opened 4-4 from the field to start the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run. The Hawks extended the run to 12-2 after Mackenzie Smith tallied her 26^th point of the evening with a layup under the basket.
• Only eight points were scored over the final five and a half minutes, the Hawks recording six of the eight to cruise to the third-consecutive win over Maine in a 74-48 victory.

 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Mackenzie Smith scored a season-high 26 points to pace the Hawks, 15 of the 26 coming in the third quarter. Smith finished 9-12 from the field and 6-9 from the three-point line for her fourth 20-point game of the season. Smith set a career high with her six made threes.
• Smith surpassed Alyssa Monaghan (2015-19) to move into 13^th all-time in scoring in SJU history, ending the game with 1,282 career points.
• Laura Ziegler matched her career-high with 16 rebounds in the win, adding 16 points and six assists for her seventh double-double of the season. Ziegler recorded double figures in points and rebounds in the first half.
• Ziegler collected 16 rebounds for the fourth time in her career, becoming just the third Hawk in head coach Cindy Griffin's tenure to record 15+ rebounds on four occassions (Chatilla van Grinsven, Adashia Franklyn).
• Talya Brugler ended the night with 14 points and five assists, notching her 12^th game in a row with double-digit scoring. The senior moved solely into sixth place in scoring in program history, starting the night tied with Trish Brown (1981-85) and Angela Zampella (1997-01).
• Gabby Casey finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
• The Hawks shot 29-48 (60.4%) from the field, the first time since the trip to George Washington last season (Jan. 4, 2023) that the Hawks finished above 60% from the field. St. Joe's held a 44-20 advantage in points in the paint. SJU finished at least 50% from the floor in all four quarters.
• St. Joe's went 7-17 (41.2%) from three-point distance to finish near its season average.
• The Hawks recorded 20 assists for the sixth time this season, entering the game as a top 10 program in assists per game.
• All seven wins for the Hawks have come by double figures. The Hawks move to 3-1 against Maine all-time, all four games against the Black Bears also decided by double-digits.
• For the fifth time this season, the Hawks led end-to-end of the contest.

 
 
UP NEXT
St. Joe's prepares to host the Hawk Classic on December 20-21 inside Hagan Arena. The Hawks begin with Howard at 11 a.m. on December 20, meeting the winner of Northwestern/College of Charleston on December 21.