Road Trip to Rhode Island Awaits Women's Basketball

2/18/2025 12:29:00 PM

Saint Joseph's (20-5, 11-3 A-10) at Rhode Island (14-13, 9-5 A-10)

AT THE TIP

The Hawks return to the road on Wednesday evening, taking on the Rhode Island Rams in another clash near the top of the Atlantic 10 standings.
Rhode Island sits two games back from St. Joe's in fifth place with only four games remaining in the regular season.
Saint Joseph's saw its longest win streak of the season snap last Thursday, recording eight-consecutive victories before falling to league-leading Richmond.

LAST TIME OUT

A matchup between two teams at the top of the Atlantic 10 standings lived to the billing, but the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team fell short in a 59-51 defeat to Richmond on Thursday evening inside the Robins Center.
Defense led the way for both teams in the opening half as the two squads combined for just 17-59 (28.8 percent) in the first half. Richmond finished the first half on an 11-0 run to take a 26-20 lead into the break. The Hawks used an 8-0 run to draw within two points. Richmond opened the final frame scoring nine of the first 12 points, extending its lead to as many as 12, en route to a 59-51 victory.
Mackenzie Smith led the Hawks with 22 points after connecting on eight of her 15 attempts, including five three-pointers. Laura Ziegler joined Smith in double-figures, finishing with 12 points on the evening.

HAWK NOTES

Laura Ziegler was named a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. The junior was also selected to the USBWA's Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Award Watch List earlier this month.
The Danish forward has scored 10+ points in 24 of 25 games this season after a record-breaking 43 points against Loyola Chicago to set the new single-game scoring record at Saint Joseph's. The junior is second all-time in program history with 38 double-doubles in her career.
Ziegler ranks fifth in the country with 11.4 rebounds per game, while her 9.8 defensive boards per contest leads the NCAA.
Mackenzie Smith and Talya Brugler were named to the watch list for the 2025 Women's College All-Star Game presented by Herbalife, which is awarded to players in their final years of eligibility.
Smith has registered 15 games this season with 15+ points, including in each of her last three appearances.
Ziegler and Smith rank in the top 10 in scoring in the conference, and Smith currently leading the A-10 in three-point percentage (45.0 percent).
St. Joe's allows a conference-low 54.4 points per game, ranking 13th in the country.
The Hawks rank first in the Atlantic 10 in assist/turnover ratio (1.29) and second in assists per game (17.7). Both marks rank 19th in the country.

MILESTONE MARKS

Laura Ziegler ranks fifth all-time in program history with 847 career rebounds and is tied for sixth with 95 career blocks. Ziegler's 1,268 points ranks 14th in school history.
Ziegler became just the fourth forward in program history to record at least 100 assists in a single-season, joining Amy Mallon (1992-93), Kim Foley (1988-89) and Maureen Dougherty (1990-91).
Mackenzie Smith is two rebounds shy of becoming the third player on the team to reach 500 career rebounds, Laura Ziegler and Talya Brugler the 23rd and 24th Hawk in program history to reach 500 rebounds in their career.
Smith and Ziegler's combined 60 points against Loyola Chicago set a new school record for most points scored by a duo.
Smith tied Angela Zampella for 17th all-time in program history with her 120th game played against Richmond.
Brugler is 21 points shy of entering top five in program history in scoring, while Smith ranks seventh in school history with 1,510 career points.

SERIES REWIND

Saint Joseph's and Rhode Island meet for the 74th time in series history on Wednesday evening, the Hawks holding a strong advantage with a 59-14 record in the matchup.
The 73 meetings prior to tip mark the second-most against a single opponent in program history, only trailing Temple (85). The 59 wins do mark a program-best, one of three schools (La Salle, Massachusetts) the Hawks have recorded at least 50 wins over.
Head coach Cindy Griffin holds a 68.6 win percentage over the Rams, the 24 wins against URI ranking third-highest in her tenure.
Rhode Island won the first matchup between the two teams before the Hawks registered a 25-game win streak and 39 wins in the next 41 games to grow the disparity in the series.