JOLIET, Ill. --- Riding the hot hand of Justene Charlesworth, the University of St. Francis women's basketball team scored a season-high 92 points to win for the sixth time in seven games with its 92-68 victory over Mount Mercy University (Iowa) on Sunday afternoon at the Sullivan Center.

Charlesworth came within one three-pointer of tying USF's all-time mark for most treys in a single game with her seven in 14 attempts to finish with a game-high 21 points.  Five other Saints also contributed to USF's 12 treys on the afternoon in 29 attempts to finish at just over 40 percent from that distance. From the field overall, St. Francis (8-2) recorded a .425 accuracy reading (34-of-80), while Mount Mercy (2-5) connected at just a .344 clip (21-of-61).

Head coach John McGinty's club used another dominating third-quarter performance to pull away from the Mustangs. Leading 36-29 at the break, the Saints outscored Mount Mercy 29-14 just after the intermission. 

Neither team led by more than four points through the first 16 minutes of the contest before USF went on a 12-1 run sparked by a pair of Charlesworth three pointers. That gave the Saints their first double-digit lead of the afternoon at 36-26 with 2:35 remaining in the quarter before settling for a 36-29 advantage at the break.

That margin would swell into the 20-point range in the third quarter when seven different Saints contributed to a 20-4 surge that turned a 41-36 lead into a 61-40 difference.  Mount Mercy would never get closer than 15 points the rest of the game.

Two other keys that led to the 24-point victory were the Saints using 15 offensive rebounds to outscore Mount Mercy 21-8 in second-chance points and forcing 24 Mustang turnovers resulting in a 29-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

Shadrian McDaniel and Jordan Pyle off the bench added 13 points each to the winning effort with McDaniel connecting on six of her eight shot attempts from the field. Andriana Acosta just missed a double-double with her nine points and game-high 13 rebounds as did Jorja Bolton with her nine points and eight boards.

Braxtin Mickens and Hannah Swiatek added eight points each.

Up Next
The Saints return to Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Wednesday when they travel to Gary, Ind. to face Indiana University Northwest for a 5:30 pm tipoff.

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