The University of St. Francis women’s basketball team overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to stay atop the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 64-59 victory over Holy Cross College on Saturday afternoon.
The victory kept No. 15 USF (20-7, 15-3 CCAC) tied atop the conference with Cardinal Stritch University with two games remaining in the regular season. St. Francis also secured a home game in the CCAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 20.
It looked bleak for USF as Holy Cross (13-15, 10-8 CCAC) scored the final five points of the first half to take a 16-point advantage into the locker room.
After the break, Nichole Davidson (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) gave St. Francis a spark with jumpers on back-to-back possessions. HCC extended its lead back to 16 but USF trimmed its deficit to nine with an 11-4 run over the final four minutes of the third quarter. Aylward scored six for the Saints during the spurt and Shadrian McDaniel (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood Academy) nailed a 3-pointer as the period expired.
Now back within single digits for the first time since early in the second quarter, St. Francis opened up the final period with six straight points. Holy Cross kept the visitors at bay for until Kaitlin Aylward (Elmwood Park, Ill./Trinity) hit a 3-pointer to give USF its first lead of the game with 3:06 to play.
From that moment forward, St. Francis did not relinquish its advantage. USF’s 8-for-10 clip from the foul line in the final two minutes helped seal the key conference victory.
St. Francis outscored HCC 44-23 in the second half. On the defensive end, USF limited the hosts to just 22.6 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes. Aylward sparked the offense with 17 of her 30 points in the final two quarters, helping the brown & gold to a 50-percent clip from the floor.
Leah Sims (Chicago, Ill./South Shore) and Davidson combined for 18 of their 21 total points in the second half. Sims added three assists and three steals while Andriana Acosta (Crest Hill, Ill./Joliet Catholic) grabbed six of her team-high eight boards on the offensive end.
Alex Forster, Jessica Norris and Keysha Streater all reached double figures for Holy Cross. HCC built its lead by shooting 62.5 percent from the field and knocking down six 3-pointers in the first half.
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The University of St. Francis men’s tennis team fell to NCAA Division I Northern Illinois University at the Vaughan Tennis Center on Sunday.
The Saints (0-7) again battled, taking doubles matches in both losses. USF’s Ian Millan Vetokhin (Burriana, Spain/Prairie State College) and Avilash Mishra (Bhubaneswar, India/Prairie State College) finished the weekend 2-1 at No. 1 doubles.
ht sets before falling 6-4, 6-3 St. Francis rounded out its weekend with a 7-0 loss to Northern Illinois.
The Saints nearly stole the doubles point from the Huskies (7-4), who came into Sunday’s action on a five-match winning streak. Northern Illinois got on the board at No. 3 before USF’s No. 2 duo of Hasler and Miguel Rayos del Sol (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) earned a 6-4 win over Shao-Yu Yu and Eric Marbach.
Looking to go 3-0 against NCAA DI foes this weekend, Millan Vetokhin and Mishra led 5-4 at No. 1 before NIU’s Mikko Malinen and Victor Spolidorio found another gear to take the set 7-5 and give the Huskies the doubles point.