FAN INFORMATION
Saint Joseph's vs. Kutztown
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 – 1 p.m.
Hagan Arena | Philadelphia, Pa.
Series History: First meeting
Doors open at noon at Hagan Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
Fans can follow
live stats throughout the game, and tickets for Saint Joseph's 2026–27 season are on sale now at
sjuhawks.com/tickets or by calling 610-660-3319.
GAME NOTES
Saturday's season opener marks the fourth time the Hawks have opened a season on Nov. 7 and the fifth time overall that Saint Joseph's has played on the date. St. Joe's enters Saturday with a perfect 4-0 record in its previous games on Nov. 7.
- 11/7/19 – W at Columbia, 71-57
- 11/7/22 – W vs. Bucknell, 66-49
- 11/7/23 – W vs. Rider, 71-49
- 11/7/25 – W at Maine, 63-62
The Hawks have won each of their last seven home openers. Under head coach
Cindy Griffin, Saint Joseph's has won those contests by an average margin of nearly 26 points. Overall, Griffin owns a 20-5 record in home openers on Hawk Hill.
Saint Joseph's has opened the season at home in eight of the last nine seasons, with its most recent road opener coming during the 2019-20 campaign.
Saturday marks just the fourth time a
Cindy Griffin-led team has faced a Division II opponent, with three of those matchups coming in the last three seasons. The Hawks set a program record with a 72-point victory over Goldey-Beacom (102-30) in 2024-25 and will face a member of the PSAC for the second consecutive season after hosting West Chester in 2025-26.
PRESEASON STORYLINES
Picked unanimously to finish first in the Atlantic 10 by the league's 14 head coaches, Saint Joseph's returns three preseason All-A-10 selections in
Gabby Casey (First Team),
Aleah Snead (Second Team) and
Rhian Stokes (Third Team). The trio combined to average 36.0 points per game in 2025-26. Casey led the Hawks with 15.7 points per game, while Snead and Stokes added 11.6 and 9.8 points per contest, respectively.
Casey headlines the Hawks' collection of preseason honors after earning a spot on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List. She was also named to the Preseason All-A-10 First Team, while Snead earned Second Team and All-Defensive Team recognition. Stokes rounded out the Hawks' selections with Third Team honors.
Saint Joseph's became the first team since Massachusetts in 2022-23 to be named unanimous preseason favorites. The Hawks were picked to finish first in the preseason poll for the first time since 2003-04, when Saint Joseph's was selected to finish atop the East Division. St. Joe's has been picked among the top two in three of the last four seasons and among the top three eight times since 2003-04.
Saint Joseph's features a roster in which all 15 players have eligibility remaining beyond the 2026-27 season, with just three seniors. The Hawks return eight of last season's top nine scorers and feature seven players with at least 40 career appearances. Casey leads the roster with 97 career games played, followed by Snead (93) and
Deja Evans (90).
Saint Joseph's will face one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the Atlantic 10, highlighted by matchups against a pair of preseason AP Top 25 opponents. The schedule features games against No. 3 USC (Nov. 27) and No. 23 Illinois (Nov. 29) in the Bahamas. The Hawks could also face a third team that received votes in the AP preseason poll if they meet Villanova in the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 6.
In addition to those matchups, the Hawks will travel to face Power Four opponents Cincinnati (Nov. 11) and Penn State (Nov. 22). SJU will also face Drexel (Nov. 15) and Penn (Nov. 18) in Big 5 pod play, while hosting defending WBIT champion Columbia on Dec. 9.
This season's Hawk Classic (Dec. 20-21) features three teams with a combined seven NCAA Tournament appearances since 2020-21. The Hawks open against Holy Cross, which has made three NCAA Tournament appearances during that span, before facing either Washington State (three appearances) or Liberty (one appearance) on the second day of competition.
