PHILADELPHIA – The Hawks accomplished something only been done twice in nearly five decades, limiting La Salle to under 30 points in a 60-29 victory over the Explorers on Sunday afternoon inside Tom Gola Arena.
 
St. Joe's has now won 11 consecutive games, moving to 24-2 on the season and 13-1 in Atlantic 10 play with just four games remaining. La Salle moves to 7-18 on the year and 4-10 in the A-10.
 
FIRST QUARTER

• La Salle looked to bring the tempo down over the first 10 minutes, electing to run late shot clock half-court offense. With just one basket made over the first six minutes, Laura Ziegler responded to La Salle's first bucket of the game with one of her own at the 3:42 mark.
• The Explorers scored the final four points of the quarter, limiting the Hawks to just 2-12 from the field to hold a 6-4 advantage.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• The Hawks quickly cut into the deficit in the early stages of the second, rattling off seven quick points to hold an 11-6 lead.
• La Salle cut the advantage to one point with a three, but St. Joe's continued to look to build on the advantage.
• Jolene Armendariz connected on her second three of the quarter from distance as time was expiring, her deep trey more than halving the Explorer deficit to just 19-17 heading into the locker room.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• St. Joe's turned up the pressure in the second half, scoring seven unanswered points in the first two minutes to grow the lead to nine after Chloe Welch buried a corner three.
• Talya Brugler started another 8-1 advantage as four different Hawks found the bottom of the net to push the lead past double digits.
• Welch took her turn burying an attempt at the buzzer, her step back jumper from just outside the paint tickling the twine to put the Hawks up 39-26 with 10 minutes to play.

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• The Explorers rattled three of the first four points of the final frame in the opening 2:15 of play, but the Hawk defense clamped down from that moment on.
• Seven different scorers helped St. Joe's to a 19-0 advantage to close out the game, holding La Salle scoreless over the final 7:45 of the contest.
• Gabby Casey and Emirson Devenie capped off the 21-3 advantage in the fourth with three-pointers in the final two minutes, the Hawks coasting to a 60-29 victory.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Talya Brugler led all scorers with 16 points, moving into 12^th all-time in program history in scoring with 1,273 on her career. Brugler also added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
• Chloe Welch finished with 12 points in the win, while Mackenzie Smith added nine points and six rebounds in the winning effort.
• Laura Ziegler recorded a game-high 10 rebounds, adding eight points to fall just short of her 20^th career double-double.
• Aleah Snead added five points and a career-high seven rebounds.
• St. Joe's finished 22-52 (42.3%) from the field, only connecting on 4-17 (23.5%) attempts from distance. The Hawks finished 12-14 from the line, connecting on 85.7% of their free throws.
• The Hawks assisted on 18 of the 22 made baskets, while La Salle finished with just four assists on its 10 field goals.
• SJU recorded a 43-27 advantage on the glass. The Hawk reserves outscored the Explorer bench, the eighth time on the year St. Joe's won the battle off the bench.
• Only 10 times in program history and three times since the 1978-79 season has the Hawk defense allowed under 30 points in a game. The last time St. Joe's held their opponent under 30 points was in a 77-29 win against Fordham in the 1999-00 season. The 29 points is the lowest in head coach Cindy Griffin's tenure, the previous low also being posted by La Salle in a 68-31 win in February 2013.
• The 21.3% shooting performance for the Explorers (10-47) was the worst field goal percentage by an opponent since holding George Washington to 20.3% from the field in January 2022, one of three times holding an opponent under 22% shooting in at least the last 15 years.
• The four points in the first quarter and the 19 first half points were both season lows for St. Joe's.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks travel midweek to take on the VCU Rams in a clash at the top of the Atlantic 10 standings on Wednesday, February 21. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.