Doing the ‘little things really well’ has propelled St. Joseph’s as one of the best women’s teams in the A-10

The goal for St. Joseph’s was simple as it headed to St. Louis for an Atlantic 10 women’s basketball matchup — bounce back from a home loss to Richmond and get back in the win column.

Before the 64-59 loss to the Spiders, the Hawks were winning — a lot — fueled by a 13-1 start, which served as the best in the 23 seasons head coach Cindy Griffin has been at the helm. St. Louis did, in fact, serve as a rebound, as the Hawks earned a 12-point win, making “the away court feel at home,” according to sophomore Laura Ziegler.

“For the years that I’ve been here, Coach [Griffin] has always said, ‘When you go on the road, play like you’re down by 10,’” added junior Mackenzie Smith. “I feel like we do that as a group.”

On Saturday, St. Joe’s was the first game in a men’s and women’s doubleheader at Hagan Arena, taking on A-10 foe Duquesne. The Dukes came out hot, causing St. Joe’s to trail for the entire first quarter, but a 16-3 run to start the second quarter was the separation the Hawks needed to put away Duquesne, 77-62.

St. Joseph’s had three players in Laura Ziegler (25 points), Talya Brugler (23), and Mackenzie Smith (18) combining for 66 of those points. Amaya Hamilton led Duquesne with 18.

“We had some opportunities to make some shots and get some movement within our offense and I think that really changed the flow of the game,” Griffin said.

The win matched Griffin’s best 17-game start, bringing the team’s record to 15-2.

The win included yet another standout performance from Brugler who also finished with seven rebounds, six assists, and three blocks. In addition to finding its flow offensively, St. Joe’s (15-2, 4-1 A-10) recognized nationally as a Top 40 defense pressured at the other end of the court, leading to several shot clock violations for Duquesne.

“I think they’re just really enjoying playing with each other,” said Griffin. “Our team chemistry is phenomenal, team culture is tremendous. We have great leaders. We have kids that are self-led, which makes things a lot easier for everybody. Whatever challenges in front of us we’re going to attack head on and they’ve been responsive to every challenge that we’ve had.”

Next up, a home matchup on Monday against A-10 and Big 5 rival La Salle, in which a win would find the Hawks capturing this season’s Big 5 women’s title.

“The next challenge is to win the Big 5 outright, and that’s one of our goals, and we got one team in our way,” said Griffin. “[Also], it’s an Atlantic 10 game, we can’t lose sight of that as well because it matters. But these guys are ready. Their energy, effort, and enthusiasm every day [has been] consistent. And it’s not easy all the time but they they do the little things really well.”