St. Joe’s tops Drexel for eighth straight win in women’s basketball

The St. Joseph’s Hawks cruised to a 69-49 women’s basketball victory over the visiting Drexel Dragons on Sunday afternoon to continue their red-hot start at 8-0. The Hawks are off to their best start since 1984-85.

The win moved them to 3-0 in the City 6 this season. Drexel is 5-2 overall.

“They want more,” St. Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin said of her players. “They’re relentless about [improving].”

» READ MORE: Cindy Griffin’s 400-plus wins as St. Joe’s coach are fueled by love of the game

Sophomore guard Mackenzie Smith led the way offensively for the Hawks with 17 points, shooting 3 of 5 on three-pointers and 6 of 9 overall while adding three rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Sophomore forward Talya Brugler had a double-double, with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Julia Nystrom also had a solid game. The native of Lund, Sweden, tallied nine points, making all three of her baskets from downtown. She added four assists, two rebounds, and a block. The Hawks shot 44.4% overall.

The Dragons were heavily reliant on graduate guard Keishana Washington, who accounted for 28 of Drexel’s 49 points.

St. Joe’s started the game with an 8-2 run courtesy of Smith and junior guard Olivia Mullins. The Hawks made 8 of 15 shots from the field, including two threes in four minutes from Nystrom, and led by 20-11 after the first quarter.

The Hawks outrebounded the Dragons by 14-6 in the second quarter and 24-12 in the half. Brugler scored on back-to-back possessions with impressive post moves and St. Joe’s led, 38-22, at halftime.

St. Joe’s forced four turnovers in the third quarter and extended its lead to 18 headed into the final period. The Hawks shot 50% from the field in the final quarter to close out the Dragons.

The 13-3 run by St. Joe’s in the final five minutes of the second quarter proved to be the difference.

St. Joseph’s will head to Lawrenceville, N.J., to play Rider on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Drexel visits Yale on Sunday at noon.