GLEN ALLEN, Va. – In a game that recorded 16 lead changes, it came down to the final one.
With the Hawks trailing by one with under four seconds remaining,
Laura Ziegler drove to the basket, spun and lifted an attempt before the buzzer sounded that found the bottom of the net. Pandemonium ensued as the bench rushed onto the court and dogpiled the junior at the free throw line as the Hawks completed the upset over top-seeded Richmond in a 50-49 thriller to advance to their first Atlantic 10 Championship final since 2018.
Mackenzie Smith led the Hawks with 13 points, knocking down all six of her free throws. Ziegler's game-winning basket lifted her to 10 points on the afternoon, while
Talya Brugler (9) and
Gabby Casey (8) combined for 17 points.
Richmond was paced by 16 points from Rachel Ullstrom. Addie Budnik was the only other Spider in double-digits with 10 points.
St. Joe's tied the game at 42-42 with six minutes to play after a
Gabby Casey triple and an
Emma Boslet steal-and-score helped overcome a five-point deficit. An answer from Richmond was followed by back-to-back pairs of free throws by
Mackenzie Smith to give St. Joe's its first lead of the fourth quarter.
After Rachel Ullstrom knocked down both attempts from the line to put the Spiders back in front, Smith calmly deposited two more from the charity stripe to put the Hawks ahead 48-47 with 11 seconds remaining. Out of the Richmond timeout, Maggie Doogan was able to drive to the hoop before making a contested jump shot in the paint to regain the advantage for the Spiders with 3.7 seconds left on the clock.
Ziegler received the inbounds pass after head coach
Cindy Griffin called timeout to set up the offense, using a screen to help create enough space to get her shot off. The Hawk faithful erupted as the ball went through the net with time expiring, giving the Hawks the 50-49 buzzer-beating victory to advance to the A-10 title game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Smith finished with a team-high 13 points, knocking down all six of her free throws in the final five minutes.
- Ziegler added her 29th game with double-digit scoring. The junior added six rebounds and three assists.
- Talya Brugler sits three points shy of 1,700 in her career, the senior addingnine points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the win.
- Gabby Casey added a game-high seven rebounds to her eight points.
- Rhian Stokes scored all six bench points for the Hawks, knocking down both of her three-point attempts.
- St. Joe's finished just 17-48 (35.4%) from the floor. The Hawks netted six of their 18 three-point attempts for a 33.3% clip while knocking down 10-11 (90.9%) of their free throws.
- Richmond went 19-45 (42.2%) from the field and 6-19 (31.6%) from distance on the afternoon.
- The Hawks and Spiders each forced 15 turnovers, but St. Joe's registered a 23-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
- The 16 lead changes are the most in a game for St. Joe's on the season. Only once prior on the year has there been at least 10 lead changes in a game (VCU, Dec. 29).
- The Hawks entered the tournament 0-8 in games that they trailed or were tied in the final five minutes. St. Joe's are 2-0 in those games in the A-10 Tournament.
- St. Joe's returns to the A-10 Championship for the first time since 2018 as the sixth seed.
- The Hawks have won their two tournament games by a combined four points.
- Saint Joseph's snapped a four-game losing streak against Richmond.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's is set to take on George Mason in the A-10 Championship game on Sunday, March 9. The Hawks and Patriots clash in a 4 p.m. tip on ESPN2.
