Saint Joseph’s Ends Three-Game Losing Skid With a 92 – 61 Win Over St. Bonaventure
PHILADELPHIA, PA 1/23/2023 –
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks fell in their last three games to upper echelon teams in the Atlantic 10. That streak came to an end with a big win over the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure. The Hawks used a total team effort in getting the victory, and scored their highest number of points this season. But the streak ending is what mattered most.
“Those three losses in a row made us a very hungry team,” said guard Olivia Mullins. “We wanted to, unfortunately, take it out on the team that was coming next. We just want to roll with this energy and keep it going all the way in the A 10’s.”
The Start Told the Tale
The beginning of the game pointed out the direction this game would go. Saint Joseph’s pulled out to a 23 – 8 lead. The lead grew to 55 – 29 at halftime. The team felt the energy.
“Coming off of a three game losing streak, getting a quick lead like that, we knew we couldn’t settle and we had to keep pushing,” said forward Talya Brugler. “It helped our confidence a lot and the flow of the game was in our favor.”
Full Team Effort
All of the eligible players got into the game for St. Joe’s. And all had a statistical entry in the game.
“These guys took ownership of that,” Coach Cindy Griffin said about getting the whole team in and involved. “They knew our bench was working really, really hard throughout the whole season. You want to be able to put them in the game so they get some court time, stay hungry, to show they are valued, and we need them to get better so we can get more minutes for them. I was happy that we were able to do that tonight.”
Brugler led the effort with 18 points. Eight players pulled down a rebound as Mackenzie Smith and Emma Boslet grabbed 7 boards each. Smith scored 15 points and Laura Ziegler added 14 points. The bigs were able to succeed because the guards were handing out assists. Eight players had at least one help. Mullins and Katie Jekot dished out 7 each. SJU registered 26 assists on 33 baskets, and made 55.9% from the floor. The guards helped the forwards, the forwards helped the guards.
“I think us just finding our post and being threats from the outside made a very balanced game for us,” Mullins said about helping the forwards. “We want to continue that as we keep going on as well.”
“They find me in all the perfect places,” said Brugler on how the guards helped her. “Right place, right time. I am thankful and grateful that I have point guards that are willing to pass me the ball.”
The Mullins Factor
Mullins set a career-high with 16 points in her last game. In this contest she set a collegiate-best in assists. The junior guard is growing in confidence.
“That is feeding into my confidence,” Mullins said. “I ultimately have to thank my teammates for finding me, making sure I’m in the right spots, getting the right shots and making it easy to rebound.”
St. Joe’s travels to Richmond on Sunday.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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