Photos: Mike Nance
By: Adam Fine
PHILADELPHIA --The Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team continued to prove on Sunday why they should be receiving votes to be ranked, with a dominant 69-49 win over Drexel.
The Hawks were a balanced offensive juggernaut. Sophomore star Talya Brugler had 15, but wasn’t the lone scorer on the floor. Even though Drexel’s game plan was primarily focused on Brugler, she used that to her advantage.
“When I know a team is focusing on me, it opens up opportunities for my teammates,” said Brugler. “So that ended up working out really well for me in the second half.”
Those opportunities started off with a three-pointer by junior Olivia Mullins and then on a great run by sophomore Mackenzie Smith. Smith was the star of the first half with 11 points on three 3-pointers. This is no surprise for Smith, as she actually shot a better percentage from three than from two all of last season. Smith ended with a team high 17 points.
Sophomore guard Julia Nystrom was another focal point on both ends of the floor. She eclipsed her season average in points in just the first quarter with two 3’s. Nystrom ended with 9 points off the bench along with excellent defense against Drexel’s leading scorer Keishana Washington.
SJU sophomore Talya Brugler #0, drives to the basket vs. UPenn, in which she tallied 23 points in the Hawks Big 5 opener on Nov. 15 - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
“She’s one of our best defenders and she’s relentless,” said St. Joe's head coach Cindy Griffin. “Her energy is contagious.”
The scoring was one headline, but rebounding was the reason the Hawks were in clear command of this game. The Hawks doubled the Dragons in rebounds for the first half, 24-12.
Brugler made her mark once again on the boards with a total of 11 rebounds. The Drexel bigs were overwhelmed by the reigning Atlantic 10 rookie of the year, and this was the main reason why Drexel struggled in this City 6 battle.
The rebounding game facilitated some wide open 3’s for the Hawks that weren’t just for Nystrom and Smith. Laura Ziegler, Katie Jekot, and Mullins were others that contributed to a team 42.9 percent from three point land.
The key defensively for the Hawks was to contain Washington. She is averaging a whopping 26.7 points per game for the Dragons. Oddly enough, this plan wasn’t fully executed as Washington had 28 points. But the rest of the Dragons didn’t step up. No other Dragon scored over double figures, with only freshman Grace O'Neill, a product from Archbishop Carroll, coming close tallying nine points, four rebounds and three steals.
On paper, this game was supposed to be a game between two of the better teams in the City 6. St. Joe’s proved to be in a different tier.
Sure, the Hawks probably won’t shoot 42.9% from three every game. But Brugler will continue to dominate the boards regardless of the opponent which should continue to give the Hawks opportunities inside and out. Another guarantee is suffocating defense from Nystrom.
St. Joe's head coach Cindy Griffin - PSD Photo by Mike Nance
SJU head coach Cindy Griffin says her team executed their game plan perfectly - Video by Adam Fine
Griffin put Nystrom on Washington for the majority of the second half and that was clearly the right choice. After 5:34 in the third quarter, Washington only made one field goal.
The Hawks now move to 8-0 (3-0 City 6).
If they win at Rider on Wednesday, St. Joe’s could potentially march into the Pavilion on Saturday to face Villanova with a 9-0 record for a top tier Big 5 matchup.