Dominant second half powers St. Joe’s past Davidson in A-10 women’s basketball tournament

WILMINGTON, Del. — St. Joseph’s used a 16-0 second-half run to pull away from Davidson and rolled to a 64-53 win in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament Thursday at Chase Fieldhouse.

After some miscommunication in the second quarter, the sixth-seeded Hawks (20-9) came out of the halftime break finishing plays at the rim. They shot 25 of 47 from the field (53.2%) and made 12 of 14 free throws. But it was their defense that ultimately gave them the upper hand. St. Joe’s finished with 24 defensive rebounds and had eight steals.

“Defensively, we set the tone in the beginning, in the first quarter,” St. Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin said. “Davidson has a great team, I give a lot of credit to them for getting our team ready to fight back.”

Next, the Hawks will face No. 3 seed St. Louis in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chase Fieldhouse.

Griffin said her team is getting, taking, and making better shots this season. It showed on Thursday.

Three starters put up double figures. Mackenzie Smith led the Hawks with 17 points, Tayla Brugler added 15, and Laura Ziegler contributed 13. Smith also led St. Joe’s with eight rebounds.

Elle Sutphin was the lone Wildcat in double figures (18 points).

St. Joe’s had a plan and opened the game with a 9-0 run. Davidson finally ended its scoring drought at the 3 minute, 18 second mark of the first on a free throw by Suzi-Rose Deegan.

In fact, the Hawks held Davidson (14-16) to just five first-quarter points, as the Wildcats shot 2 of 10 from the field.

However, the momentum shifted to open the second after Issy Morgan swished a three-pointer to cut Davidson’s deficit to 13-8. The Wildcats also started to apply full-court pressure and only had a turnover, compared to 10 in the first.

“They gave us a run; they certainly did,” Griffin said. “But the relentlessness of this team and the selflessness of this team, you know, came out today.”

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That energy sparked a 13-0 run and allowed Davidson to take an 18-13 lead, its first of the game, on a deep, contested three by Sutphin.

The Hawks regrouped, however, and dominated in the paint late in the first half. With the game tied, 22-22, and less than a minute left, sixth-year guard Katie Jekot slowed down the pace before dishing to Smith, who drove inside and made an arching layup to give St. Joe’s a 24-22 lead, an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish again.

“Any positive momentum swing going into halftime is really beneficial for any group,” Smith said. “But I think for us, it really set the tone. We’re here, and we’re here to get it done, so we kept pushing forward.”