BY MIA MESSINA
GLEN ALLEN, VA- At the beginning of the season, one of the goals the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team set for itself was to win an Atlantic 10 Championship.
After bowing out in the quarter finals last year with a loss to Rhode Island, the Hawks, who secured a double bye for the second year in a row, found history repeating itself. Their first game of the tournament this year would once again be a matchup against Rhode Island in the quarter finals.
An overtime win propelled them to a semi-final matchup with the top-seeded Richmond, whom St. Joe’s fell to twice in the regular season. This time, it was a buzzer beater from sophomore Laura Ziegler that would send the Hawks to their first A-10 Championship game since 2018.
But unfortunately, that’s where the story ended. The fourth-seeded Hawks fell 73-58 this past Sunday at the Henrico Sports and Events Center to second-seeded George Mason, who made history with its first conference championship.
Despite not checking a conference title off their list of goals, Hawk's head coach Cindy Griffin was still able to find the positives in the season overall.
“We came up obviously a little short. But overall, I think our body of work this year, especially in this weekend, has been phenomenal,” Griffin said.
But it goes beyond just the way the Hawks played in the tournament or the season. It extends to the larger legacy the senior class will be leaving behind.
Last season, the Hawks brought back 11 out of the 13 players on their roster, losing no athletes to the transfer portal. After this season, they will lose four seniors and two grad students. This includes two of their best players, seniors Talya Brugler and Mackenzie Smith.
Saint Joseph's in A10 Championship vs. George Mason. (Video/ Mia Messina )
Yet, even as they leave Hawk Hill in May, there is hope that the culture they have built will outlast them.
“Coming in as freshmen, the upperclassmen took us under their wing to flip the culture, and that’s what we did,” Brugler said. “Now we're just translating what we've created here through the underclassmen because they are the future, and we're leaving our legacy here that way.”
The culture they’ve created is one of selflessness and relentlessness. It’s on the clothes they wear. It’s in their locker rooms. It’s what Brugler said makes up the brand of basketball they’ve bought into and played every day for the past four years.
“We also have a family atmosphere,” Smith added. “I care about these people just as much as I care about my family. And just to see how that's grown over the last four years since we've been here, it's fulfilling.”
Saint Joseph senior forward Talya Brugler. (PSD Photo by James Quinn)
This “family atmosphere” within the program has developed across Brugler, Smith, and the rest of the seniors’ time with the program, but Griffin said it started from when they stepped on campus four years ago.
“They're really good people,” Griffin said. “When they stepped on campus, they have changed the way we do things, and [they are] great leaders.”
And while losing some, there are still a number of players who are returing next year to continue building on this legacy. Ziegler, Gabby Casey, who hails from Archbishop Wood, Aleah Snead a local Penn Charter standout, and Rhian Stokes are all underclassmen, and will continue as major players for the Hawks.
Ziegler was named one of five finalists for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year while Snead was deemed A-10 Sixth Woman of the Year.
The Hawks will wait to see if they moved from off the bubble into the bracket or if there is another WBIT berth in their future, but regardless of how they close out this season, the Hawks have found success within the program.
Saint Joseph senior guard Mackenzie Smith. (PSD Photo by Geanine Jamison)
Saint Joseph junior forward Laura Ziegler. (PSD photo by Geanine Jamison)
“They've won a lot of games since they've been here, and they're fantastic players and teammates, and they're just high character kids that happen to play a really great brand of basketball,” Griffin said.