GARY, Ind. --- The University of St. Francis women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit, but Indiana University Northwest scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to break a 44-all tie and went on to claim a 62-53 victory in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play at the Savannah Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Saints (8-12, 4-8 CCAC) trailed 32-15 with 6:36 remaining in the second quarter before taking off over the next 11 minutes where they went on a 22-6 run to pull within 38-37 with 5:41 to play in the third quarter.  Talia Pellegrini and Laurelei Thormeyer led the way with a three-pointer and seven points each, while Tykara Harrison and Keijah Gray each contributed a basket and two free throws.

USF eventually forced a tie at 42-all a few minutes later before taking its first lead since early in the contest on a Jorja Bolton steal and layup with just under a minute left in the third quarter.  Indiana Northwest (10-8, 7-4) forced the fifth and final tie of the game 32 seconds later to start what would eventually become a string of nine unanswered points for the hosts, including the seven to start the fourth quarter.  The closest the Saints would get the rest of the afternoon was 55-51 with 3:17 to play. 

St. Francis registered just nine points in the final quarter beset by a 3-for-15 shooting mark from the field, including just one three-pointer in ten attempts.  For the game, USF was 17-for-50 from the field (34 pct.) and 5-for-28 from beyond the arc (17.9 pct.), while Indiana Northwest was 27-of-67 from the field (40.3 pct.) and 5-for-17 from long range (29.4 pct.).

The Saints turned in a balanced scoring sheet on the day with all five starters contributing at least nine points.  Thormeyer and Pellegrini each totaled 12 points with the former providing three assists and the latter three steals.  Harrison authored her third double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds, while Bolton and Gray put up nine points each.  Gray also tied Harrison for team-high rebounding honors with ten boards.

Indiana Northwest's Jessica Carrothers led all scorers and rebounders on the afternoon, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 13 boards.  Makayla Best provided another 15 points.

Notes: Harrison's double-double was her second in a row and led to her 13th straight game scoring at least ten points … Gray also produced her second straight game of ten rebounds, which marks her career high as a Saint … Kaylie Sippel, who also plays softball and volleyball at St. Francis, made her debut on the basketball court Saturday … Softball teammate Brittany Osborne made her first appearance in the hoops sport Wednesday, but saw her most minutes on Saturday … USF is back home on Wednesday to face Indiana South Bend for a 5 pm CCAC tipoff.              

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