St. Joseph’s women’s hoops roster hasn’t changed much. Here’s how it looked in the season opener against Kutztown
The Hawks finished with 21 assists on 38 field goals and had 18 steals, a statistic head coach Cindy Griffin said stood out. Next up, a trip to face Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Roster continuity is hard to find in college athletics, but for St. Joseph’s women’s basketball, that’s never really been a problem.
However, bringing in some reinforcements doesn’t hurt.
With a mixed effort from returning veterans and new faces, St. Joe’s routed Kutztown 95-27 in its season opener at Hagan Arena on Saturday.
Transfer Deja Evans scored 16 points in her debut for the Hawks, all in the first half, mostly from a 10-2 run she had to start the second quarter. The senior forward shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the field.
The Hawks, the unanimous favorites to finish first in the Atlantic 10, returned 10 players from last year’s roster, including eight of their nine top scores from last season, including seniors Gabby Casey, who finished with a game-high 19 points and six steals, and Aleah Snead who had eight points.
Head coach Cindy Griffin said the addition of Evans and fellow junior transfer, Maddy Potts, has worked well for the Hawks because of the maturity that they bring, having previously played for other Division I programs.
“You have that going for you, plus, you also have the continuity of the group that was already here,” Griffin said. “So I don’t think we really missed the beat.”
A Conshohocken native, Evans had a prior familiarity with St. Joe’s. The Archbishop Wood alumna spent her freshman season at Albany, before transferring to another Big 5 school, Drexel, for her sophomore and junior year. She faced the Hawks each season during her two years with the Dragons.
Knowing some of the girls coming in, and knowing Griffin from when she was young, Evans said it made for an “amazing transfer process,” which allowed her to learn the plays and be “aggressive on the court” right away.
“It’s definitely helped me understand a lot,” Evans said. “Just knowing the girls, they’ve made it easier for me. Being able to go talk to them, Aleah and Gabby, they’re leaders for me as well, even though we’re in the same grade. But they’re definitely big leaders on the court.”
Evans and the other starters were pulled in the third quarter when the Hawks were up by over 40 points, giving the younger players on the team, including a few freshmen, the chance to see some time.
Among them was Jahzara Green, a freshman forward from Gloucester Catholic, who finished third in scoring for the Hawks with nine points in her 18 minutes played. She also contributed eight rebounds for St. Joe’s, making “an impact right away,” Griffin said.
“She’s again another spark off the bench,” Griffin said. “She’s aggressive. She’s assertive. She’s strong. She rebounds. Great communicator. So really pleased.”
The Hawks finished with 21 assists on 38 field goals and had 18 steals, a statistic Griffin said stood out to her. Still, as the Hawks hit the road for their next game, Griffin said she wants them to focus on being a great road team as well as at home. That comes with staying focused and getting the right shots, something she wants to see the Hawks improve on from Saturday’s game.
“We got some really great shots, but sometimes maybe we rushed it a little bit,” Griffin said. “I think we got a little bit ahead of ourselves sometimes, but that that’s going to come. I thought we did a nice job taking care of the ball, but, I think the continuity of continuing to share the ball and see the open person.”
Up next...
The Hawks’ first road trip will be to face the Cincinnati Bearcats on Wednesday (6:30 p.m., ESPN+).
