JOLIET, Ill. --- Le'lani Harris opened her sophomore campaign with a career-high 27 points and the University of St. Francis women's basketball team used a big 27-point second quarter to gain a 78-61 victory over Cleary University (Mich.) in the season opener at the Sullivan Center on Friday night.

Harris, who delivered three double-doubles in a row to close out the 2022-23 season, began right where she left off with her 27-point, 11-rebound performance.  She also accounted for five of the team's 13 three-pointers and recorded three steals.

Harris finished the night converting on 10 of her 22 shots, including the five in 11 attempts from three-point range. 

Mia Kennelly also scored in double figures, totaling 12 of her 14 points in the opening 20 minutes when the Saints jumped out to a 53-30 advantage.  Adding eight points each were Jorja Bolton and Keijah Gray.

Head coach John McGinty's club brought a stifling defense all night long, which led to 28 Cleary turnovers, the majority of which were forced.  The Saints cashed in on many of the miscues, finishing with 34 points off turnovers compared to ten for the Cougars. 

Kennelly provided the most steals with her five followed by Harris and Bolton with three each.  As a team, St. Francis totaled 19 steals.

USF also turned its 19 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points and a 44-32 advantage on the boards. 

Mileisha Rodriguez totaled 19 points for Cleary with Amy Jackson adding 17 markers.

The Saints, who outscored Cleary 27-14 in the second quarter, never led by less than ten points after the first 11 minutes of the contest and had the lead as high as 28 points in the third quarter.  Cleary eventually cut that deficit in half with a trio of 14-point differences being the closest it would get in the final 10 minutes.

Notes: The Saints were part of history Friday night, being the inaugural opponent against Cleary, which was playing its first game in school history … Harris' double-double was the fifth of her career … Kennelly's 14 points tied for the second-highest output in her career ... Making their St. Francis debuts on Friday were Gray, Akyia Baker, Tykara Harrison, Baylei Johnson and Frankie Kokkines … The Saints play their first road game of the season on Wednesday night (Nov. 1) when they travel to Mishawaka, Ind. to face Bethel University.  Tip-off is 6 pm Central time.

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