LANSING, Mich. – The University of St. Francis women's basketball team continued its hot start by winning its second straight game in as many days on Saturday afternoon, running past Cleary University (Mich.) 79-57.

In only their second-ever meeting, the two teams matched up evenly through the first three minutes of play with the score tied at 5-5 before Cleary (0-2) found itself ahead by four points after knocking down a pair of layups.  Keijah Gray and Le'lani Harris, however, teamed up to score St. Francis' next nine points in the quarter to take a 14-12 lead.  The Saints would never relinquish the lead in the game from that point forward as they cruised to a 24-17 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

St. Francis (2-0) would widen the scoring gap to as high as 13 points in the second quarter after Harris and Lauren Knight each connected from long range.  Gray and Tykara Harrison chipped in a combined seven points, as well, to give the Saints a comfortable cushion of 11 points, 40-29.  Cleary countered by scraping together four points in the last minute of the period to mark the score at 40-33 heading into the locker room.

The Saints continued their offensive pressure at the start of the third quarter, adding onto their lead with two quick three-pointers from Laurelei Thormeyer and Harris. Thormeyer would add another triple to her total a few minutes later to help the Saints widen their advantage to 16 points (51-35) with 6:01 remaining in the quarter.  The Cougars did not go away, though, as they managed a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to get within 53-44.  Abby Shepard's steal and a layup with one minute remaining stopped Cleary's momentum and enabled the Saints to close out the quarter with a 56-44 lead.

The fourth quarter showcased the same offensive dominance for USF with the Saints spreading the offense in the final 10 minutes of action.  Seven different players were able to add to the scoring total in the period with Mariah Pates leading the way with seven points.  Coryn Fromm also gave the Saints a spark off the bench after coming up with five points and three rebounds to end the game on a high note and push St. Francis to the 79-57 victory.

Harris led all players with 19 points as she went 6-for-11 from the field with four three-pointers, while Thormeyer, Shepard, and Gray each chipped in 11 markers.  Rebounding was a team effort with five players pulling down five boards apiece.

Up Next
St. Francis will take the court again on Oct. 30 when it travels back to Michigan to take on University of Michigan-Dearborn.  Game time is set for 4:30 pm.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.