Last-second heroics from Laura Ziegler secure St. Joseph’s a spot in the A-10 women’s championship

Get the ball in the hands of Laura Ziegler.

That was St. Joseph’s plan.

With 3.8 seconds left and down one to top-seeded Richmond, it was going to take a prayer for the No. 4-seeded Hawks to knock off a Spiders team riding a 17-game win streak entering Saturday’s Atlantic 10 semifinal .

It wasn’t a prayer, but a midrange jumper from Ziegler that secured a 50-49 win for the Hawks and a trip to the A-10 women’s championship game facing No. 2 George Mason, a 63-50 winner over No. 3 Davidson.

It was clear Ziegler got the ball off in time but it wasn’t clear if the officiating crew was going to count the basket. Initially, referee Ashley Gloss waved her hands as if the basket didn’t count, but everyone on hand inside the Henrico Sports and Events Center in Glen Allen, Va., soon realized her gesture meant the game was over. Ziegler’s floater left her hand with 0.3 seconds on the clock and went through the hoop as time expired.

“We just bought into what coach [Cindy Griffin] says about [focusing] always on the next possession,” said an emotional Ziegler, while clutching the hand of Mackenzie Smith on the podium. “What just happened we can’t do anything about it, it’s always [about] the next play.

“Coach told me to get the ball and go make a play. So I caught that [inbound] ball and I knew I had to go in, try and get the foul, try and do something, and when it went in, I just stood there. So many emotions and I don’t think my adrenaline has ever been that high.”

A wire finish made sense for a game that saw multiple lead changes with neither team boasting a double-digit advantage the entire game. Richmond held a 26-25 lead at the half, but it took a six-point second-quarter margin on the Spiders’ end to do so.

Smith led the Hawks with 13 points and Ziegler added 10, including the basket that mattered most.

Rachel Ullstrom led Richmond with 16 points and Addie Budnik added 10. Maggie Doogan, a Cardinal O’Hara product, finished with just five points but looked as if she was going to provide the dagger to the Hawks’ heart with a putback with just 3.8 seconds remaining that made it 49-48.

“Well, everybody got a good show, right?” joked Griffin. “I’m very proud of our players today, every time [Richmond] went on a run, we answered and that went down to the last buzzer. The resilience, the relentlessness, the belief … we’re a really good team, we play really good together, and I believe that’s the key to our win today.”

Aiding St. Joe’s improbable win in addition to Zeigler’s heroics was the Hawks’ 10-for-11efficiency from the foul line. Smith (6-for-6), Ziegler (2-for-2), and Talya Brugler (2-for-2) were all perfect from the stripe.

The Hawks rank second in the conference in free throw percentage as a team (76.9%). They were a hair tougher under the boards, outrebounding the Spiders, 30-28.

Additionally, St. Joe’s made sure to take advantage of any and almost all Richmond mistakes, scoring nearly half (23) of its points off 15 Richmond turnovers.

A win in Sunday’s championship would secure St. Joe’s a trip to March Madness outright for the first time since 2014, but a loss doesn’t necessarily close the door. According to ESPN Bracketologists, the Hawks entered the day on the bubble even against a top-seeded Richmond team.

Knocking off Richmond, which could still lock up a strong tournament seed in its own right, can only help their case.

However, the mathematics are not what Griffin is concerned about. For her and the Hawks, a conference championship game awaits, which in itself is a remarkable place to be considering just two weeks ago when the Hawks limped into the conference tournament on a four-game losing streak, the odds of getting to this point were slim.

But as Ziegler proved against Richmond, the finish is all that matters.

“Now we need to regroup, make sure we do a good job of scouting [the other semifinal],” Griffin said. “Just do what we need to do to get some rest and recovery and maybe get some sleep — or maybe not, we’ll see.”