Any way you look at it Saint Joseph’s was making the cross country trip back to the City of Brotherly Love. Coach Cindy Griffin and her Hawks though, got it the way they wanted. A trip culminating with a visit to Villanova on Thursday.
The Hawks defeated California 63-61 on Sunday. The win at Cal’s Haas Pavilion allowed the Hawks to advance to the WBIT quarterfinals where they will face Villanova, a 73-55 winner over Virginia, also on Sunday.
Possessions: 66
Offensive efficiency: Saint Joseph’s 97, Cal 92
Four Factors:
eFG Pct. : Saint Joseph’s 51. Cal 42
FT Rate : Cal 22, Saint Joseph’s 16
OREB Pct. : Saint Joseph’s 31, Cal 24
TO Rate : Cal 15, Saint Joseph’s 20
Leading scorers:
Cal- Maria Suarez 20 points
Saint Joseph’s- Chloe Welch, Laura Ziegler 19.
Records: Saint Joseph’s 28-5, Cal 19-15
The difference. Resilience. A quality essential to winning on the road and a quality Griffin’s Hawks certainly had and needed in this contest. Whenever the Hawks gained a little separation the host Golden Bears answered. A seven point lead by the visitors entering the final period was cut to three in the first minute. Saint Joseph’s then had a 10 point lead with just under three minutes to play and appeared to be home free. Cal went on a 9-0 run in the next two minutes, making it a one possession game. Chloe Welch of Saint Joseph’s drained two free throws with 17 seconds to go. Following a Cal basket Welch hit one of two from the charity stripe. Trailing by two, the Golden Bears had one last chance. Maria Suarez, who knocked down two three pointers earlier, had her last second attempt from long distance partially blocked by Mackenzie Smith allowing the Hawks to move on.
Notes. The Hawks had one blocked shot in the game and, as noted, it was huge. Saint Joseph’s won the battle of the boards by a 38-31 count. They also had advantages in second chance points (11-8) and points in the paint (40-24).
All the Hawks 63 points came courtesy of the starting five. Scoring balance was significant as four players hit for double figures.
The defense stepped up as well, holding Cal to 36% shooting from the floor. Saint Joseph’s is 21-0 in games where they limited the opposition to under 40% shooting.
Cal was also held to five below their average offensive efficiency of 97 per game.
Suarez had a double-double with game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (13).
The record goes on as the win total is the most in program history. The previous mark was 26 wins back in the 1996-97 season.
Saint Joseph’s defeated Denise Dillon’s Villanova Wildcats 73-67 back in early December.
Cal advanced to the second round by virtue of a 65-60 win over Hawaii in the first round matchup in Berkeley. This was Cal’s 21st postseason appearance, the first since the 2019 NCAA Tournament and the first under coach Charmin Smith.
