JOLIET, Ill. --- Twenty turned out to be the magical number for the University of St. Francis women's basketball team on Thursday night at the Sullivan Center as the Saints put up at least 20 points in all four quarters to net their 20th win of the campaign, knocking off Saint Xavier University 85-76 in a battle of Top 20 clubs and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) foes.
 

The loss was only the second on the campaign in 16 dates for the No. 19 Cougars (14-2, 10-1 CCAC) with both coming against the No.20 ranked Saints. USF also scored a convincing 77-53 decision over Saint Xavier back on Jan. 16 in Chicago.
 

The Saints also had this one in control early in the fourth quarter, leading by their largest margin – 69-45 – before the guests made things interesting with a 31-point fourth quarter. An 11-1 run followed by another 11-0 burst got Saint Xavier within seven points with 91 seconds to play before Justene Charlesworth (JR/Wanatah, Ind.) closed things out with four of her nine points.
 

USF (20-4, 8-2) led the entire first quarter before the two teams exchanged the advantage three times each to open the second quarter. But three straight layups from Paige Gieseke (SR/Algonquin, Ill.) started a string of 13 unanswered points for the Saints and they would never trail again opening a 41-29 lead at the break. Gieseke finished the night with a season-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in her regular-season finale at the Sullivan Center.
 

Another 17-4 run after Saint Xavier cut the deficit to single digits (47-38) in the third quarter resulted in a 64-42 advantage with 62 seconds to play in the third quarter. The Saints would extend that to 69-45 39 seconds into the fourth quarter before the Cougars put on their furious rally.
 

Six different Saints scored at least nine points on the night with all of them stepping up in each quarter leading to point totals of 21, 20, 23 and 21 over the four ten-minute frames.
 

Jordan Pyle (JR/Traralgon, Australia) topped the charts with 20 points and six rebounds, not to mention turning in three treys. Leah Sims (SR/Chicago, Ill.) also drilled three long-range shots leading to her 14-point, five-rebound effort. Also getting in on the act were Shadrian McDaniel (JR/Chicago, Ill.) (12 points) and Andriana Acosta (SR/Crest Hill, Ill.) (10 points, 9 rebounds).
 

Saint Xavier's Claire Austin led all scorers with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks. Brianna Flayter scored a near-triple double with her 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. 
 

The Saints have a quick turnaround, facing Roosevelt University in less than 24 hours with a 5:30 tipoff at the Athletic & Convocation Center in Arlington Heights, Ill. on Friday in the final regular-season game for head coach Steve Brooks' team.