JOLIET, Ill. --- Laurelei Thormeyer and Jorja Bolton each put up career-high numbers in the scoring column, but the University of St. Francis women's basketball team came out on the short end of a 69-61 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest to St. Ambrose University on Saturday afternoon at the Sullivan Center.

Thormeyer finished with a game-high 22 points due in large part to another career high with her six three-pointers in eight attempts.  Bolton put up 17 points and tied another personal best with her eight rebounds.  She also distributed five assists.

Tykara Harrison matched Bolton with eight boards to go along with her 10 points.

St. Ambrose (4-11, 4-6 CCAC) was led by Kashell Daughty's 18 points, while Caitlyn Thole authored a double-double (14 points, 16 rebounds).

The contest was close throughout with no team leading by more than single digits with the exception of a 68-second time span in the second half.  A total of eight ties and four lead changes made up the first three quarters.

A pair of late treys by Talia Pellegrini and Thormeyer enabled the Saints (7-11, 3-7) to take an 18-14 lead heading into the second quarter.  St. Ambrose, however, used an 18-8 scoring advantage in the second quarter, including a run of 14 out of 16 points, to gain a 32-26 lead at the break.

A string of nine unanswered points capped off by a Keijah Gray three-pointer at the 3:55 mark of the third quarter put USF back up 40-38 before the two teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 46-all.  There, the Fighting Bees scored the initial seven points of the final stanza and 14 of the first 18 points en route to the eight-point victory.

Despite shooting only 35.4 percent from the field (23-of-65), head coach John McGinty's club outscored St. Ambrose 55-54 from the field aided by nine three-pointers.  The difference, in the end, came at the foul line, where the guests were 15-of-24, including 10-of-14 in the fourth quarter, to USF's 6-of-11 mark.

Notes: Harrison scored in double figures for the 11th straight game … Thormeyer's six treys tied a team season-high mark … The Saints were 7-for-10 from three-point range in the two quarters – the first and third – where they outscored the opposition by a combined 38-28 count, but just 2-for-17 in the second and fourth periods when they were outscored 41-23 … USF is on the road all next week beginning on Wednesday at Trinity Christian College for a 5:30 pm CCAC matchup.   

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