St. Joe’s upset by Rhode Island in A-10 women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals

HENRICO, Va. — After the best start to the season in program history, St. Joseph’s Atlantic 10 title hopes came to an abrupt end Friday night, suffering a 57-47 upset by Rhode Island in the quarterfinals.

The No. 6-seeded Rams (20-13, 11-8 A-10) advance to the tournament semifinals, while the Hawks’ chances of a trip to the NCAA Tournament are all but dashed. Instead, St. Joe’s (26-5, 15-4) seems destined for the WNIT for the second straight year.

“I think there’s definitely postseason for this team,” St. Joe’s head coach Cindy Griffin said. “Twenty-six wins is pretty reputable, and so we’ll prepare for that, and make a run in whatever tournament we’re in.”

St. Joe’s swept the regular-season series against Rhode Island, but the Rams rallied late in the two narrow finishes. This time, it was the Hawks who trailed for most of the game, and though they clawed within striking distance on multiple occasions, the Rams just wouldn’t yield.

While the Hawks showed resilience, they were doomed by streaky shooting. Down by five in the final minute, St. Joe’s had two looks from three to make it a one-possession game, but couldn’t make the shots when they counted.

“I think they were being really physical. This was a third time we’ve played them, so they knew a lot of our plays in the back end,” junior forward Talya Brugler said. “And then so it was hard to get into typical looks that we get, we weren’t able to create things that we’re usually able to do.”

While St. Joe’s entered the game with one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, ranking seventh in the NCAA in scoring defense, Rhode Island had them figured out. The Rams shot 42% from the field, with Dee Dee Davis pouring in 22 points.

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St. Joe’s got off to a less-than-ideal start. While it seemed like the Hawks could barely buy a basket — blowing layups and popping threes out of the basket — Rhode Island was having no trouble at the other end. The Rams went 7-of-13 from the field in the first period to sink St. Joe’s into an eight-point deficit.

Rhode Island’s hot streak didn’t last forever. The Rams missed all six of their shots from three in the second quarter, and the Hawks rallied to within one.

A Laura Ziegler three gave the Hawks their first lead of the game 4 minutes, 18 seconds before halftime.

“There was a lot of fight in our team; I didn’t think that we gave in,” Brugler said. “The brand of St. Joe’s University is The Hawk Will Never Die, so we live by that mentality, and there were moments we came back in that stretch.”

Coming out of the locker room hanging onto a two-point lead, St. Joe’s quickly found itself behind again.

Rhode Island shot 47.1% from the field in the third quarter and built a seven-point advantage with 7:25 remaining, helped by St. Joe’s missing its first four attempts from long-range in the half.

“I thought our defense was OK, and could have been a lot better,” Griffin said. “When you’re not scoring, it just kind of elevates every play defensively.”

Emma Boslet, coming off the bench, hit a clutch three with 6:32 remaining to keep the game within reach. But the Rams always seemed to have an answer.

Ziegler led St. Joe’s with 12 points, while Chloe Welch added 11 points and five rebounds. The Rams held Brugler, the Hawks’ leading scorer, to nine points.

“We put ourselves in a really good position going into the tournament,” Ziegler said. “I think I’m just proud of the way our team played for a long stretch. We started the season off really well this year, we just didn’t finish it as we wanted to.”

The Hawks will await their postseason fate on Selection Sunday on March 17, when NCAA and the WNIT will announce the fields. NCAA Tournament brackets will be revealed on 8 p.m. on ESPN, and the WNIT will follow shortly after.