PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team heads across the Keystone State to meet Duquesne in a Saturday afternoon matchup inside the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

GAME INFORMATION: St. Joe's (25-4, 14-3 A-10) at Duquesne (18-10, 13-4 A-10)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, March 2 | 2:00 p.m.
LOCATION: UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
LIVE STATS: Click Here
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
 

LAST TIME OUT
• St. Joe's fell in its home finale in its penultimate game of the season, Fordham coming into Hagan Arena and playing spoiler to the Hawks' title chances on Wednesday evening.
• An 11-0 run in the first quarter looked to bring similar results as the road trip to the Bronx, but the Rams responded to take a halftime lead. Despite the Hawks making another run to look to gain control of the contest, Fordham kept responding before knocking down a corner three to put the visitors up two with 30 seconds to play. The Hawks were unable to get a response as they fell 72-67 on the night.
• Mackenzie Smith led all scorers with 24 points on 10-15 shooting, also grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Talya Brugler was the only other Hawk in double digits with 11 points, dishing out three assists.
 

EARNING VOTES IN THE POLL
• The Hawks remain in the WBCA Coaches Poll with eight votes in the Feb. 27 edition.
 

TWO HAWKS EARNING NATIONAL ATTENTION
• Talya Brugler and Laura Ziegler were named to the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and All-America Watch List, two of 40 to be selected and one of 11 pairs of teammates to earn the accolades.
 

SERIES HISTORY
• The Hawks are 48-13 all-time against Duquesne, the win against the Dukes earlier this season increasing the current win streak to five games.
• St. Joe's won the first 20 meetings between the two teams, the Hawks holding more wins in program history than any other school besides Rhode Island (59) and La Salle (53).
• The Hawks are 16-9 on the road against Duquesne, 21-10 under head coach Cindy Griffin. Earlier this year, the Hawks were victors in a 77-62 score inside Hagan Arena.
 

SAINT JOSEPH'S | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Notes
• Mackenzie Smith has scored double digits in 13 of her last 15 games and became the 30^th Hawk to reach 1,000 career points against Dayton. Smith moved to 25^th all-time in scoring after 24 points against Fordham.
• Talya Brugler sits at third in the A-10 in points per game (16.3) pacing the conference with the best shooting percentage of 54.5%.
• Brugler (77) and Ziegler (71) lead the Hawks in assists, combining for 17 games with at least four assists.
• St. Joe's is one of the stingiest defenses in the country, entering the matchup with the fourth-best scoring defense in the country by allowing just 53.3 points per game.
• The Hawks hold one of the top percentages from the free throw line. SJU has knocked down 81.6% of its attempts (315-386), the mark good for third in the NCAA. St. Joe's ranks first among Atlantic 10 teams in FT%. The 17-17 effort against Rhode Island was the best since an 18-18 performance against La Salle on February 17, 2019.
 

DUQUESNE: Roster | Schedule | Stats
• Only Richmond average more three-point makes per game in the Atlantic 10, Duquesne's 8.5 per game ranking 23rd in the country. The Dukes also clean the defensive boards, ranking top of the conference with 27.6 defensive rebounds per game. Duquesne also ranks in the upper echelon of the conference in blocks, tallying 4.3 per game.
• Megan McConnell is the engine of the Duquesne roster, leading the team in scoring (13.0), rebounds (8.7), assists (4.6) and steals (2.0) per game. McConnell ranks 21st in the country and leads the A-10 with a 2.53-1 assist-to-turnover ratio while ranking third in the conference in assists per game (4.6). McConnell's high motor allows her to average 38.3 minutes per game, ranking second in the country.
• While McConnell dictates the offense, there is more than enough firepower to go around as six different players average at least six points per game. Naëlle Bernard (10.3) and Amaya Hamilton (9.8) add firepower to the offense, Hamilton also creating 73 assists to just 51 turnovers.
 

UP NEXT: 
• St. Joe's heads to Henrico, Va. to take part in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, with action set for Wednesday, March 6 inside the Henrico Sports and Events Center.