PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's returned to the court on Wednesday evening, cruising to a 73-47 win over Dayton in a Valentine's Day matchup.
 
The win gave St. Joe's it's best record after 25 games in program history, head coach Cindy Griffin's 200^th Atlantic 10 win moving the Hawks to 23-2 (12-1 A-10) on the year. Dayton fell to 10-15 on the season with a 4-10 mark in conference play.
 
FIRST QUARTER

• Each team traded runs through the opening five minutes after the Hawks started the game with the opening four points.
• Six unanswered from the visitors was disrupted by a 7-0 Hawk run, started by Chloe Welch and capped by an and-one from Mackenzie Smith that put her at 1,000 career points and the Hawks up by five.
• After the Flyers ended the run, the Hawks picked up a new one with Laura Ziegler scoring the final six points of the quarter to give St. Joe's a 17-8 lead.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Smith started the second frame with a bucket to extend the run to 8-0 for the hosts before a free throw from Dayton cut the scoring drought.
• The Flyers' field goal drought continued until the next trip down, Anyssa Jones grabbing the first basket in more than five minutes of action for the visitors.
• The two teams began trading buckets, the Hawks having an answer for every question being asked by Dayton.
• The Hawks shot nearly 64% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including yet another 7-0 run to cap off the half to enter the locker room with a 46-28 lead.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• Dayton opened the third quarter with six of the first eight points, cutting the deficit to 14 points, the closest the Flyers would get to the Hawks the rest of the way.
• Ziegler scored six of the 11 points for St. Joe's in the third, eight turnovers plaguing the Hawks' otherwise strong quarter as SJU finished 50% from the field over the 10 minutes.
• Emma Boslet's pullup jumper with four minutes to play was the final basket of the quarter until a Dayton layup with 21 seconds left ended the third with a 57-40 advantage to the Hawks.

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• The two sides traded baskets over the course of the opening four minutes of the final frame before back-to-back baskets by Talya Brugler gave St. Joe's a 66-44 lead.
• Mackenzie Smith started a 7-0 run over a two-minute span, capped off by Brugler's 20^th point of the night.
• Neither team scored over the last three minutes, allowing the Hawks to limit the Flyers to under 50 points with a 73-47 win.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Mackenzie Smith became the 30^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, joining Brugler to hit the mark in their junior seasons. Smith finished with 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Julia Nyström and Emma Boslet combined for 11 points on 4-5 shooting from the field, each providing three assists and just one combined turnover. Boslet added three steals and two blocks to her stat line.
• Head Coach Cindy Griffin became just the third coach in the Atlantic 10 to reach 200 conference wins in her career.
• The Hawks now are 23-2, the lone-best mark after 25 games in program history after entering the night tied with the 1976-77 mark.
• St. Joe's is on a ten-game win streak, the longest since the 2001-02 team that ripped 11 consecutive victories from Dec. 4, 2001 – Jan. 16, 2002.
• The Hawks shot a staggering 57.9% from the field on 33-57 shooting, matching the best mark shot by the Hawks inside Hagan Arena.
• Dayton finished 17-53 (32.1%) from the floor, becoming the ninth team this season to shoot under 35% against St. Joe's and the 14^th to score under 50 points.
• The Hawks edged the rebounding battle by a 31-27 margin. Entering sixth in the country in free throw percentage, St. Joe's went to the line just once tonight, Smith making the lone attempt for the Hawks.
• St. Joe's assisted on 21 of the 33 field goals, Dayton only dishing three assists on 17 field goals made.
• SJU more than doubled the Flyers in paint points, holding a 48-20 margin in the interior.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks take on La Salle in the second matchup over the Explorers this season on Sunday, February 18. The tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.