Box Score SIOUX CITY, Iowa --- After earning upset wins in its previous two playoff games, the University of St. Francis women's basketball team's fun run in the postseason came to an end on Saturday afternoon when the Fighting Saints fell to NAIA No.6 ranked Morningside University (Iowa) 85-72 in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round Sioux City Bracket championship game.

USF (27-7), as the No.3 seed in the bracket and No.10 of 16 in the Naismith Quadrant, was seeking to deny Morningside its 20th straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament Final Site. The Mustangs (29-5) came in as the top seed in the bracket and No.2 in their quadrant.

Winners of four straight playoff games and 14 games in a row overall, the Saints were looking to use the same magic that upset NAIA No.18 Saint Xavier University to win the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament and No.2 bracket seeded/No.7 quadrant-ranked Texas Wesleyan University to halt Morningside's trip plans.

An unyielding Mustang defense, however, ruined that agenda, forcing the Saints into 21 turnovers, their third most of the season. That resulted in a 19-7 advantage in points off turnovers for the hosts.

There was also Sierra Mitchell, the Morningside senior guard who nailed seven three pointers and shot 12-of-23 overall from the field en route to a game-high 35 points. She was one of four Mustangs to score in double figures and accounted for half of their 14 three-pointers in 32 attempts (.438).

The Saints, on the opposite end, went 9 for 33 from long range (.273).

USF, nonetheless, hung with Morningside, trailing just 11-9 after one quarter and getting within six points late in the third quarter after falling behind by as many as 17 points in earlier in that period. 

The stretch that hurt the Saints the most came just after they had gained a 17-16 lead with 6:29 remaining in the second quarter. Over the next nine minutes extending into the second half, Morningside outscored the Saints 25-8 to go up 41-25 with 7:16 remaining in the third quarter. Included in that stretch was a closing 17-6 run to the first half that saw Morningside score on five straight possessions, while USF turned the ball over six times.

That, however, did not deter the feisty Saints from just giving in to Morningside. An 11-2 burst over a two-minute stretch late in the third quarter had many of the Morningside faithful getting edgy as the Saints made it a two possession game (51-45) with three pointers from Hannah Swiatek and Justene Charlesworth and both a trey and a layup from Jordan Pyle. That enabled St. Francis to win the quarter and trail by just nine points to open the fourth quarter.

The Saints, however, could get no closer than that nine-point deficit the rest of the way after Morningside built its advantage back up to as high as 16 points in the final stanza.

All five Saints starters – who played all but five minutes of the contest – scored in double figures, led by Andriana Acosta's 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field.  Braxtin Mickens was next in line with 14 points, followed by 13 each from Charlesworth, Swiatek, and Pyle. 



Acosta also closed out her career with her seventh straight double double and team high 16th of the season by pulling down a game high 21 boards. Charlesworth and Pyle just missed with their own double doubles with nine and eight rebounds, respectively, to give the Saints a 40-30 advantage on the boards.

Swiatek led the team in both assists (seven) and steals (three).

The Saints closed out the season at 27-7 overall with advancement to the NAIA National Tournament for the seventh consecutive season.