St. Joe’s continuity has drawbacks, too. How can the Hawks combat opponents having ‘a lot of data’ on them?

The conversation surrounding the St. Joseph’s women’s basketball team before the season was roster consistency. With 11 of 13 players returning, expectations were high.

But with consistency comes familiarity. And that seemed to be working against the Hawks during a rough patch in Atlantic 10 play.

After a home loss to Duquesne, the Hawks dropped a road game to Virginia Commonwealth, their first back-to-back losses of the season. After being picked to finish second in the conference’s preseason poll, St. Joe’s (13-4, 4-2 A-10) entered its matchup with Fordham in seventh place.

“That’s the nature of a successful team that’s very talented,” head coach Cindy Griffin said. “There’s a lot of data on us. There’s a lot of film, obviously, and we’re getting everybody’s best every night.”

Added senior Mackenzie Smith: “Losing to Duquesne was tough, and then following that up with another loss was even harder. I think that’s the first time I’ve lost two in a row in a long time. So that was a really big emphasis coming back.”

It was the first time St. Joe’s dropped back-to-back regular-season games since February 2023. But the Hawks are back in the win column after a 72-65 home win over Fordham on Wednesday night.

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The win wasn’t pretty. The Rams jumped out to a 10-3 lead but the Hawks rallied in the second half and took the lead for good on an Emma Boslet three-pointer with 7 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter. The third-quarter surge was unusual for the Hawks who, despite their dominant second halves, have tended to struggle in that quarter.

“Our third quarters haven’t really been great, so that’s been a huge emphasis every day in practice, even before our losses, too,” Smith said. “It was relieving to ... see this ball go in the hoop and then finally have the start that we wanted to the second half.”

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Smith, one of the St. Joe’s big three along with senior Talya Brugler and junior Laura Ziegler, paced the Hawks with 16 points. Ziegler put up 15 points, 11 of which came in the last five minutes of fourth quarter, 12 rebounds, and seven assists. Brugler tallied only six points, all in the fourth quarter. It was the third time this season Brugler finished under double figures.

But sophomore guard Aleah Snead stepped up with 13 points, just one under her season high in the season opener against Goldey-Beacom.

“Talya didn’t get her double digits like she usually does, but Aleah Snead did. So if one guy isn’t doing it, we have other guys that can do it,” Griffin said. “Aleah came in and did a really good job for us and just played with a lot of poise and defended really well. And I think that’s what we’re capable of doing.”

This next-player-up mentality is part of the solution for rectifying the familiarity the Hawks are facing in the A-10. Griffin’s other solution: Embrace the fact that they will get the best out of every team they face and respond accordingly.

Chaé Harris (19 points) and Taya Davis (16 points, seven rebounds, six assists) paced Fordham (10-7, 4-2).

Up next, St. Joe’s hits the road to face UMass on Saturday (noon, ESPN+) and hopes to keep its momentum going with the conference still wide-open.

“It’s a really great league, and you’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Griffin said. “You’ve got to continue to coach them up and find different avenues that you can figure out how to score, pass, gather, report, defend.”