St. Joseph’s University continues hot start with 75-66 win over Temple in women’s basketball

St. Joseph’s soared to a 75-66 win over Temple on Wednesday night to improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

The win also moved the Hawks to 2-0 in Big 5 action this season.

Sophomore forward Talya Brugler led the way for the Hawks with 17 points, shooting 7 for 14 while adding four rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Mackenzie Smith also shot well, going 5 for 8 from the floor with 14 points. She grabbed three rebounds and had three assists.

Freshman forward Laura Ziegler finished with eight rebounds, five blocks, and three steals in addition to her 10 points. The Hawks shot 49.1% overall.

Temple shot 10 of 32 in the second half, bringing its game shooting percentage to 34.4. Guard Aleah Nelson led the Owls (1-4) with 16 points and six assists, while Jasha Clinton and Tarriyonna Gary had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Temple stifled the Hawks early on with an 8-2 run in the first 3 minutes, 55 seconds. The Owls shot the ball well from deep at the beginning, hitting three of their first four shots from beyond the three-point arc.

The Hawks found a rhythm offensively, however, clawing back with a 12-3 run of their own over the next three and a half minutes to jump in front by six. Zeigler closed the quarter with a three to put the Hawks up, 21-16, after the opening period.

In the second quarter, the Hawks offense stalled as they shot just 4 of 14 (28.6%) from the field. Temple went on a 10-2 run throughout the middle stretch of the quarter to retake the lead, 29-28. St. Joe’s went into the half down, 38-32, after a three from Nelson in the closing seconds of the second quarter.

The second half saw the script flip yet again. Brugler scored eight points and helped the Hawks to a 59-51 lead at the third-quarter buzzer. The Hawks made 9 of 12 shots during the period.

The Hawks outscored Temple, 27-13, in the third quarter, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. Brugler dominated the period, making four of the Hawks’ nine shots.

St. Joe’s carried that momentum through the end of the game, shooting 7 of 13 in the fourth quarter to close out its fifth win of the season.

» READ MORE: Rookies no more: Meet the sophomore group leading the charge on the court for St. Joe’s women

St. Joe’s will head to the Sunshine State to play North Florida on Sunday in Jacksonville Fla. (12:30 p.m., ESPN+).