City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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The core of the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball resurgence over the last four years was forged over Benihana noodles. Well, knockoff Benihana noodles. 

It was during the 2021-22 season, with the program in need of a culture shift, that fifth-year senior Mary Sheehan got together with the Hawks’ freshman class to turn things around. Talya Brugler, Mackenzie Smith, Julia Nyström and Kaylie Griffin had arrived on Hawk Hill that offseason, joining a program coming off consecutive single-digit win seasons, and Sheehan knew the best hope for St. Joe’s redemption came from a class that hailed from three different countries, recruited during the COVID pandemic.

One idea that stuck was a pre-game dinner before Hawks home games that season, hosted in a dorm room, inspired by Benihana. 

Griffin — the “chef of the group,” according to Brugler — would make a college kid’s version of the noodles they all enjoyed at the hibachi chain restaurant. Someone else would make chicken, Sheehan would bring a vegetable, and garlic bread found its way into the equation. The meal was important. The discussion during the meal even more so.

“It sounds silly,” Brugler said. “But those little moments we had before game day and talked about how we could create a better culture for our team [...] that’s when it started to change, and that’s when things started to be more successful. 

“I hate to credit it to the copycat Benihana noodle,” she added with a laugh, “but it worked. And Texas Toast.”

Five freshmen joined the Hawks’ roster that year. Four of them — Brugler, Griffin, Nyström and Smith — ultimately formed a group that’s been the heart of the program throughout their time on City Avenue, one which took the Hawks to heights they’ve never experienced before. 

Now their time on Hawk Hill is coming to an end, the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament one last chance to grab the only thing that’s eluded them thus far: a league championship, and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. 

Heading into this year’s postseason, St. Joe’s is 21-8, a 12-6 A-10 record good enough for fourth in the A-10. They’ll play No. 5 Rhode Island, No. 12 George Washington or No. 13 Loyola (Chicago) in the quarterfinals on Friday in Henrico (Va.) at the Henrico Sports and Events Center. What’s beyond that isn’t on their minds, as much as they can help it.

“I want a ring, that’s what’s going through my mind,” Smith said with a laugh during a Monday phone call. “I’m excited, I think we have proven ourselves in moments that we’re capable of really, really big things, and I’m excited for all of that to unleash this upcoming week.”

There’s no doubt that the Hawks’ Class of 2025 is leaving the program in much different shape than they found it. 

When the current seniors got to City Avenue in 2021, they were joining a team coming off a 7-10 campaign (5-9 A-10) in the COVID-shortened season, having won just nine games in a full season the year before. Head coach Cindy Griffin, a St. Joe’s alum and Kaylie’s mother, had won 20 games seven times since taking over the program in 2001, but five of the seven seasons between 2014-15 and 2020-21 ended below .500. 

Brugler, Smith and Nyström all said they weren’t really sure what to expect.

“I solely committed to St. Joe’s based on people,” said Smith, a native of Shelburne, Nova Scotia. “I never got to tour, I never got to anything, because it was during COVID, it was all over Zoom.”

“I was just really excited for the opportunity to come here and play college basketball,” said Nyström, who hails from the town of Lund, Sweden. “Basketball is so much bigger here than at home in Sweden [...] you guys have so much more resources and everything that goes into it. It’s all so much bigger here, and I was just so excited to be part of it.”

The Saint Joseph's seniors -- Brugler (0), Smith (21), Griffin (11) and Nyström (5) -- were honored before a game against Richmond on March 1, 2025. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Their freshman year was an uptick, a 13-17 (7-8 A-10) result that proved they were a core to build around. 

All of the seniors remembered a January A-10 contest against Massachusetts that year. In the starting lineup, Griffin put fifth-year senior Katie Jekot and four freshmen — Nystrom, Brugler, Smith and Layla Fair, who transferred from SJU to UMass after that season. Brugler recalled the pre-game huddle before tip-off, when the five starters gathered for a brief moment on the court, all by themselves; it was an eye-opener not just for the freshmen, but for Jekot, too.

“I remember she looked around and she was like ‘oh my gosh,’” Brugler said. “And Mac was like ‘it’s KJ and her kids.’ She was such a great leader for us and a great role model, especially that year in particular — we were just little babies, we always say, and she just led us in the right direction.”

“I think that’s when we started to realize that, yeah, we’re losing, we’re figuring stuff out, we’re freshmen, we have no idea what’s going on, but this could really work into something,” Smith said. “I think when we beat [No. 2 seed] Rhode Island in the [A-10] quarterfinal that year, that’s when we realized that it was going to be something special for years to come.”

The next year, with freshman Laura Ziegler joining the Hawks, they accomplished the program’s first 20-win campaign in nine years, then lost to Saint Louis in the A-10 quarterfinals. The 2023-24 season was yet another big step forward, a 28-6 (15-3) finish the program’s most wins in its history, though a loss in the A-10 quarterfinals kept them from an NCAA bid. 

Getting to the 20-win mark again this year meant this group equalled that of the 2012-14 teams, the last time Griffin had a 20-game winner. Ziegler’s become a star, and they’ve gotten strong contributions from underclassmen Gabby Casey, Aleah Snead and Rhian Stokes this year, but there’s no doubt the seniors are still the core of this group. That includes fifth-year senior Emma Boslet, who’s started 24 games, averaging 3.2 ppg and 3.6 apg.

In the A-10 awards announced Tuesday, Smith received her first A-10 First Team honor; Brugler was elected to the Third Team. Snead was named A-10 Sixth Woman of the Year. 

Smith (14.4 ppg, 43.4 3PT%) and Brugler (13.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg) are second and third on the team in scoring, the pair both averaging more than 30 minutes per contest. Nyström missed most of the season due to multiple concussions but returned in February and is playing a few minutes per game off the bench; she and Griffin are both toward the back of the Hawks’ 10-woman rotation this stretch run.

“They became really, really tight as a group, they got a lot of playing time early, which I think really helped them develop their games and [...] , their work ethic is off the charts,” Cindy Griffin said. “Putting that all aside, they are unbelievably great people and the other teammates gravitate toward them because of their character and their ability to lead and their ability to step forward when needed. 

“They’ve been phenomenal.”

Brugler has been a standout from the beginning. The 6-1 forward from Nazareth started and scored 14 points in her freshman debut, earning A-10 Rookie of the Year honors that season and all-conference honors each of the next two. She enters the league tournament fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,672 points), nine points behind Teresa Carmichael for third, despite missing six games in January and February due to injury.

She was the last one to hear her name called on Senior Day, the Hagan Arena crowd letting her know their appreciation as she took to the court flanked by her parents, Brent and Tonya. 

“If you would have told me in high school you would have been the Rookie of the Year your freshman year and then just keep going from there — I guess I would have believed you, but I don’t know, I can’t even put into words,” Brugler said. “It’s hard for me to talk about myself. 

“I’m just really proud of what I’ve been able to do here and the legacy I’ve been able to leave behind, not even on the court but off the court too. I had a lot of people on our team message me after senior day and tell me how much I mean to them, and at the end of the day, that means more to me than the numbers I was able to put up.”

Smith isn’t far behind her — less of a Robin to Brugler’s Batman, and more of a co-Batman. The 5-10 wing sits seventh on the school’s scoring list with 1,547 points, 102 behind Kim Foley for sixth. She’s fifth all-time in games played (124) and starts (117); her 118th start on Friday will tie her with Alyssa Monaghan for fourth, four behind Moran and nine ahead of Brugler, who also came off the bench for a short stint midway through her freshman season. Her 43.4% mark from 3-point range is second in the A-10 amongst players with more than 100 attempts.

Nyström has started 63 of her 98 career games, spending two years as a starter and her sophomore season as a reserve before her injury troubles limited her to five games this season. A career 34.2% 3-point shooter, she has career averages of 3.9 ppg and 1.7 apg. Kaylie Griffin played in 24 games her first three seasons but has played in 25 contests this season, including four appearances of 20 minutes or more.

Their collective success has helped attract the next generation of talent. 

Three local products are joining the Hawks’ program next year: Penn Charter guard Kaylinn Bethea, Haverford High wing forward Rian Dotsey and Archbishop Wood wing Emily Knouse, along with Danish forward Olivia Lutterodt. If the rest of the current roster sticks together, including Ziegler (18.1 ppg, 10.8 rpg), Casey (7.8 ppg), Snead (6.9 ppg) and Stokes (6.1 ppg), the Hawks should still remain in contention in the A-10 next year.

“Players want to play with players,” Cindy Griffin said. 

“We’re able to bring higher-level recruits year in and year out now,” Brugler agreed. “Not that they didn’t before, but [...] it is high-level basketball that we play at St. Joe’s and we’ve shown that and these girls want to be part of it.”

All of the seniors made sure to credit Sheehan, who now serves as the team’s Director of Basketball Operations, for setting the tone that got them there. 

“I’m not here to just play basketball, based on wins, losses, none of that, that’s all circumstantial,” Smith said. “It’s who you surround yourself with that I was really focused on, and to see that I still have those kinds of relationships and that’s the kind of program that we are, but also to be winning, I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

As for what’s next for the seniors, Brugler and Smith both plan on extending their careers into the professional ranks next season, both in early talks with agents for potential representation, overseas contracts most likely in their future. Nyström said she will head back to Sweden, where she wants to stay in the basketball world as well, but isn’t sure in what capacity; she received her undergraduate degree in finance last year and will finish her years at St. Joe’s with an MBA as well. 

Eventually, Smith said, she’d like to come back to the States and get into coaching, noting that “some people when they get to this point, the ball stops bouncing. Personally, I don’t think I could do that. I think I have to stay around this game, I have to. 

“I don’t think I’m ever going to replicate St. Joe’s anywhere I go,” she added, “but if I can find something similar, I want to be there.”