Women's Basketball Travels to Dayton in Final Road Test of Regular Season

2/25/2025 4:01:00 PM

Saint Joseph's (21-6, 12-4 A-10) at Dayton (15-12, 9-7 A-10)

AT THE TIP

The Hawks take to the road for the final time of the 2024-25 regular season in a Wednesday evening matchup with the Dayton Flyers.
Saint Joseph's snapped a two-game losing skid as the offense exploded for 83 points in a series sweep over George Mason inside of Hagan Arena on Sunday.

LAST TIME OUT

Four players finished in double-figures as the Saint Joseph's women's basketball team returned to the win column on Sunday evening, defeating George Mason, 83-69, inside of Hagan Arena.
Saint Joseph's opened the first half with an 11-point lead, the advantage ballooning to as many as 20 points in the third quarter before George Mason ended the frame on a 20-5 run to draw within five points. The Patriots cut the deficit to three on the opening possession of the fourth before a 10-0 response from the Hawks increased the advantage to double-digits, where it stayed the remainder of the 83-69 win.
Laura Ziegler paced the Hawks with 23 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists in the win. Talya Brugler returned to double-figures with 18 points, while Mackenzie Smith and Aleah Snead each added 11 points in the win.

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 26 of 27 games this season and is one point shy of 500 on the season and one rebound shy of 300. The junior is second all-time in program history with 38 double-doubles in her career.
Ziegler ranks eighth in the country with 11.1 rebounds per game, while her 9.5 defensive boards per contest leads the NCAA.
Mackenzie Smith has registered 15 games this season with 15+ points.
Ziegler and Smith rank in the top 10 in scoring in the conference, and Smith currently leading the A-10 in three-point percentage (44.9 percent).
St. Joe's allows 55.5 points per game, ranking 19th 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.
Rhian Stokes earned her first Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week accolade, averaging 12.0 ppg last week.

MILESTONE MARKS

Laura Ziegler ranks fifth all-time in program history with 861 career rebounds and is tied for sixth with 95 career blocks. Ziegler's 1,306 points ranks 13th 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). Ziegler's 119 assists ranks most by a forward in single-season history.
Mackenzie Smith became 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 can move into the top 10 in appearances (122) and top five in starts (116) against Dayton.
Talya Brugler continued her surge up the program leaderboards, entering the top five in career scoring after her 18-point effort against the Patriots.
Smith ranks seventh in scoring school history with 1,521 career points.

SERIES REWIND

Saint Joseph's enters the matchup with Dayton with a 15-21 disadvantage in series history as the two teams meet for the 37th time on Wednesday.
The Hawks enter with wins in each of the last two games over the Flyers, breaking a 10-game losing streak from the 2013-14 to the 2021-22 season.
St. Joe's is 5-9 all-time against Dayton on the road and 7-12 outside of Philadelphia.
In the last matchup inside UD Arena, the Hawks defeated the Flyers for the first time on the road since January 18, 2004, breaking a streak of nine-consecutive away defeats.