City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
__

After a lopsided win to begin last season, the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball squad dropped six straight games to start their 2021-22 campaign 1-6.

Things turned around as the Hawks went 12-11 to finish the season at 13-17, but it is a hole the group would not like to dig itself again this upcoming winter. 

St. Joe’s announced its 2022-23 non-conference schedule on Thursday. It’s a slate of games the more-experienced Hawks should be better prepared for this season.

"We are excited about this group of players and this team," coach Cindy Griffin said in a release. "We've assembled a non-conference schedule that gives our fans an amazing opportunity to be able to watch our squad with eight of our 12 non-conference games at home, as well as a schedule challenging enough to give us quality preparation heading into the A-10 season."

The Hawks’ season begins with three home games against Bucknell (Nov. 7), Yale (Nov. 11) and Penn (Nov. 15). They took down the Bulldogs and Quakers in consecutive games last season to break the six-game losing streak.

St. Joe’s goes on the road Nov. 20 to face Vanderbilt after a 64-45 loss to the Commodores last season. The Hawks return home Nov. 23 to host Temple, looking for a third straight win over the Owls after victories in 2019 and 2021.

A trip to North Florida (Nov. 27) in Jacksonville ends the month of November for SJU. The team begins December with home games against Boston University (Dec. 1) and Drexel (Dec. 4). The Dragons hold a five-game winning streak over St. Joe’s dating back to 2015.

The Hawks travel to Rider (Dec. 7) and Villanova (Dec. 10) to finish off their non-conference road schedule. The Wildcats are the lone 2022 NCAA tournament squad on the schedule and won their sixth straight game against St. Joe’s in 2021.

To wrap up the non-conference schedule, the Hawks host the Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena from Dec. 20-21. They will open Dec. 20 against Wright State then play either Eastern Michigan or James Madison on Dec. 21.

Sophomore forward Talya Brugler was the Hawks’ leading scorer (10.6 ppg) and rebounder (5.7 ppg) as a freshman, winning A-10 Rookie of the Year. Graduate guard Katie Jekot (9.6 ppg, 4.8 apg), sophomore guard Mackenzie Smith (9.1 ppg) and sophomore guard Julia Nyström (4.6 ppg) were also starters last season.

Junior guard Olivia Mullins (4.4 ppg) and Emma Boslett were also in the rotation last season, giving the Hawks a wealth of experience to lean upon. Senior forward Jaden Walker did not play last season but appeared in 29 games as a freshman and sophomore, including seven starts.

2022-23 St. Joe’s WBB Non-Conference Schedule

Mon., Nov. 7 vs. Bucknell
Fri., Nov. 11 vs. Yale
Tues., Nov. 15 vs. Penn
Sun., Nov. 20 at Vanderbilt
Wed., Nov. 23 vs. Temple
Sun., Nov. 27 at North Florida
Thurs., Dec. 1 vs. Boston U
Sun., Dec. 4 vs. Drexel
Wed., Dec. 7 at Rider
Sat., Dec. 10 at Villanova

Hawk Classic (Hagan Arena)
Tues., Dec. 20 vs. Wright State
Wed., Dec. 21 vs. Eastern Michigan/JMU