PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team now sit alone in the record books, setting a new program-best mark of 27 wins on Thursday evening as the Hawks defeated Seton Hall in the opening round of the WBIT inside Hagan Arena.
 
In the first year of the newly formed Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament, the Hawks will advance to the second round in the postseason for the first time since the 2017-18 season when St. Joe's defeated the Pirates in the opening round of the WNIT.
 
The Hawks improve to 27-5 on the season, surpassing the 1996-97 squad that finished 26-5.
 
 
FIRST QUARTER

• Seton Hall opened the game with the first nine points before a pair of free throws from Talya Brugler got the Hawks on the board with a pair of free throws.
• The Hawks trailed by 11 with five minutes remaining in the first before Paula Maurina finished under the rim to help spark a 12-2 run to end the quarter.
• Mackenzie Smith and Chloe Welch each scored five points during that span to close the gap to a 15-14 deficit.

 
SECOND QUARTER

• Both offenses stalled over the opening three minutes before Welch's second triple of the game gave the Hawks the first lead of the evening.
• Smith also added her second three pointer of the game to extend the first half to as many as five points.
• With under a minute to play, the Hawks took a 28-26 lead after Julia Nyström knocked in a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining.

 
THIRD QUARTER

• Seton Hall tied the score at 30-30 in the early moments before two threes from Laura Ziegler with a pair of free throws from Welch sandwiched in between extend the Hawk lead to eight midway through the frame.
• The Hawks were held without points through the final 5:20 of the quarter, intensity rising as the Pirates cashed in on four points in that span to cut the deficit in half.

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• Gabby Casey and Brugler each traded three-pointers with Seton Hall's Sha'Lynn Hagans, building an early seven-point advantage with eight minutes to play.
• The Hawks were held without a basket for nearly four minutes, the visitors clamping down on the defensive end to surge to an 8-0 run to take the first lead since early in the second quarter.
• Smith found herself able to break loose from her defender, heading downhill before finishing a left-handed layup to help St. Joe's regain its advantage.
• Four points from Brugler, including a coast-to-coast steal to transition layup, extended the margin to 50-45.
• After a basket from the Pirates answered a 6-0 St. Joe's run, Smith responded with an old-fashioned three-point play with two minutes to play.
• Nyström pushed the advantage to three possessions from the free throw line, the St. Joe's defense locking down over the final two minutes as Seton Hall was held scoreless trying to claw back into the game.
• The last ditch attempt from the Pirates with 10 seconds left clanged the iron, Smith pulling in the rebound and racing down the other end of the court to start the celebrations as the Hawks took down the Pirates in a 54-47 thriller.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• Mackenzie Smith had a team-high 15 points to pace the Hawks, also tying a team-high with eight rebounds and three assists.
• Talya Brugler was held to two points after the first half, but finished with 11 points on just 3-5 from the field. Brugler set a career-high with five blocks on her night. The junior sits just four points shy of entering the top 10 in program history in scoring, sitting at 1,339 points on her career.
• Chloe Welch finished as the third Hawk in double digits with 10 points, adding three rebounds and two steals.
• Laura Ziegler nearly added another double-double with an eight-point, eight-rebound effort in the win with three blocks.
• Gabby Casey scored five of the seven bench points, but matched game-highs with eight rebounds and three assists in just 19 minutes of action.
• St. Joe's shot just 18-48 (37.5%) from the field, but shot slightly better than its season average from deep with an 8-22 (36.4%) effort.
• The Hawks won the rebound battle with a 39-28 effort on the glass. The St. Joe's defense limited Seton Hall to just 17-56 (30.4%) from the field and 3-19 (15.8%) from deep.
• The Crimson and Gray overcame season-highs in fouls (19) and turnovers (20) to defeat Seton Hall. The 11-point deficit was the largest margin overcame in a win all year.
• SJU is now 26-0 on the year when they shoot at a better clip than its opponent, 22-0 when tying or shooting more free throws than the opposition.
• The Hawks are now 6-10 all-time against the Pirates, 3-1 all-time in the postseason against Thursday's visitors.
• Nine of the 16 postseason wins have come under the direction of head coach Cindy Griffin, who sits just three wins shy of 400 wins at St. Joe's.
• The Hawks have advanced to the second round of the postseason for the fifth time in the last eight attempts since 2011.

 
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks return to action on Sunday, March 24, taking on the California Bears in a 4 p.m. EST tip.