CHICAGO --- The University of St. Francis women's basketball team became the first squad to solve NAIA No.18 ranked Saint Xavier University at home during the 2021-22 season and it could not have come at a more opportune time. The Saints snapped the Cougars' perfect 13-0 record at the Shannon Center as well as their overall 16 game winning streak with a convincing 88-68 victory Saturday afternoon to claim the program's second Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title in three years.

All five St. Francis starters totaled at least ten points in the contest topped by Jordan Pyle's game high 28 to go along with nine rebounds. Andriana Acosta followed with her fifth double double in a row and 14th of the season in 27 games with her 20 points and game high 14 rebounds.

Acosta and USF's defense also fueled its fast start. After Saint Xavier (25-6) scored the opening basket, the Saints (26-6) accounted for 21 of the next 25 points during a seven minute span to open a 21-6 lead and never looked back. Saint Xavier missed all nine of its field goal attempts during that stretch, while Acosta produced 10 of her 20 points in the quarter with six of those coming at the foul line. For the game, she was 12 of 13 at the line and 4 for 8 from the field.

Pyle was 11 for 22 from the field and 6 of 7 at the line, while Justene Charlesworth delivered 18 points on five baskets in eight attempts, including three from long range, and five free throws in six attempts. As a team, the Saints were near perfect at the foul line on the afternoon, converting on 27 of their 30 attempts at the stripe.

From the field, USF hit 45.6 percent of its shots (28-of-61), while Saint Xavier had four less field goals and two more attempts for a 38.1 percent reading (24-for-63). The Saints also won the rebounding battle, 42-31 

Rounding out the list of double figure scorers for the Saints were Hannah Swiatek and Braxtin Mickens with 10 points each. Swiatek also recorded four assists.
Maia Fawcett led Saint Xavier with 15 points and six rebounds.

After building the opening 21-6 lead, the Saints got the lead as high as 17 points in the opening half before settling for a 45-31 advantage at the break. Saint Xavier's only serious charge after the intermission came just after USF's lead swelled to 18 points at 52-34 with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter.

With Acosta on the bench after picking up her fourth foul, Saint Xavier put together a 14-2 surge over a four-minute span to get within 54-48 at the 3:26 mark of the quarter.  Back in came Acosta and less than one minute later she got the Saints back on track with a traditional three-point play and an eventual 12-point lead (65-53) by the end of the quarter.

The lead would get no lower than ten points the rest of the way for USF with Pyle's 10 fourth quarter points maintaining the separation and sealing the win. 

The victory came exactly six weeks after USF's only loss of the new year, which was on Jan. 13 to the Cougars 71-66 at the Shannon Center. Since then, head coach John McGinty's club has run off 13 straight wins.

Up Next
The Saints are off until March 11 when they compete in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. Where and who they will play will be announced as part of the NAIA's Bracket Reveal on Thursday (March 3) at 6 pm on the NAIA Facebook page.

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