HENRICO, Va. – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team suffered a quarterfinal exit in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, dropping a 57-47 result to #6 Rhode Island on Friday evening inside the Henrico Sports and Events Center.
The Hawks swept the pair of games against Rhode Island in the regular season, but fell in the quarterfinal matchup to drop to 26-5 on the season. The Rams face #7 Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
FIRST QUARTER
- Talya Brugler scored five of the first eight points for the Hawks, the two teams trading offense over the first few minutes.
- Mackenzie Smith ended a four-minute scoring drought for the Hawks, the Rams building a 13-10 advantage over that span.
- The Smith basket would be the only points over the final six and a half minutes of the frame, Rhode Island growing the lead to 18-10 after the opening 10 minutes.
SECOND QUARTER
- Laura Ziegler opened the quarter with a quick five points after being held off the scoreboard in the first frame, St. Joe's using a 7-0 burst as a team to cut the deficit to one.
- The First Team All-Conference selection gave the Hawks the first lead of the game, Ziegler knocking down her second triple of the quarter to put St. Joe's up 22-21.
- The Hawks held Rhode Island to just 3-13 (23.1%) from the field over the frame, able to take a 27-25 lead into the half.
THIRD QUARTER
- After two minutes of scoreless play from both sides, the teams traded baskets as Brugler tied the game 31-31 with a contested layup under the basket.
- Rhode Island tallied five consecutive points before Julia Nyström and Chloe Welch scored back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to one.
- St. Joe's conceded the final four points of the quarter, entering the final frame with a 42-37 deficit.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Rhody increased the lead to as many as seven in the opening stages of the fourth before Emma Boslet cut a 2:30 drought with a three from the wing.
- Another four-minute drought hampered the Hawks, allowing the Rams to extend the advantage to eight with under four to play.
- St. Joe's was unable to close the gap under five, the tournament run spurned in the quarterfinals in a 57-47 defeat.
GAME NOTES
- Laura Ziegler led the team with 12 points, but was held to a season-low two rebounds.
- Chloe Welch also added double-figures with 11 points and five rebounds.
- Mackenzie Smith posted a team-high five assists and seven rebounds.
- St. Joe's finished just 17-53 (32.1%) from the field, the third-worst shooting performance of the season for the Hawks. SJU was 5-23 (21.7%) from range.
- The Hawks were held under 50 points for just the third time this season, 0-3 in such games. The 47 points was the lowest output of the season.
UP NEXT
The Hawks await to find out their postseason fate. Stay tuned to sjuhawks.com or @SJUHawks_WBB on X for updates.
