Talya Brugler '23 Tabbed Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year
Brugler becomes the third Hawk all-time to be named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year. Her classmates Laila Fair '23, Julia Nyström '23 and Mackenzie Smith '23 join her on the league's All-Rookie Team.
Image by Ryan Samson/Sideline Photos
After leading the Hawks in scoring and rebounding in her inaugural season, freshman Talya Brugler '23 has been voted the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday ahead of the Atlantic 10 Championship. In addition, classmates Laila Fair '23, Julia Nyström '23 and Mackenzie Smith '23 join Brugler on the league’s All-Rookie Team. All postseason awards were voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches.
Brugler becomes the third Hawk all-time to be named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, joining Hillary Klimowicz (2005-06) and current Director of Player Development Susan Lavin (1998-99).
Saint Joseph’s four All-Rookie team members is the most from a given program in Atlantic 10 history. The most a team has had in the same year prior to this was two. It’s the most Hawks to land on the first-year squad since the 2005-06 season when Klimowicz and Jen Oyler achieved the feat.
To no surprise, the six-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week took home the annual award after posting team bests 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Nazareth native finished sixth in the league with a 50.2 field goal percentage. Brugler tallied 15 double-digit scoring efforts, including 12 of St. Joe’s 15 A-10 matchups. In league games this season, Brugler upped her totals to 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest, shooting 50.0% from the field.
Smith was a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week and finished third on the Hawks in scoring with 9.6 points per game. The East Jordan, Nova Scotia native was third in the entire league with a 41.0 three-point field goal percentage. In league contests, Smith bumped her scoring and rebounding efforts to 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds, respectively. The 5-10 guard recorded 12 games with at least 10 points and three games above 20 points, including a career-high 26 in the regular season finale at Duquesne. She joins Brugler as the only two Hawks to play in every game this season.
Despite missing time due to injury, Fair still started 12 of 21 games this season and finished with 7.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. She finished tied with a team-high 13 blocks and was fifth in the Atlantic 10 with a 50.8 field goal percentage. The Middlesex, N.J. native was tabbed the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after recording 12 points and six rebounds against Yale and posting career marks of 20 points and 11 boards against Penn.
Nyström started 23 of 25 games played this season and posted 4.7 points per outing. She finished second in the league with her 43.9 three-point percentage in conference games. Known for her on-ball defensive pressure, the Lund, Sweden product picked up an Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honor after she had a career performance with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep against Harvard.
This story originally appeared on sjuhawks.com.