JOLIET, Ill. --- Aided by five players scoring at least nine points and the team shooting a season-best 52.2 percent from three-point range, the University of St. Francis women's basketball team punched its ticket to the postseason with a convincing 78-57 victory over Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Saint Xavier University on Saturday afternoon at the Pat Sullivan Center.

The win enabled the Fighting Saints (11-17, 7-13 CCAC) to edge out St. Ambrose University for the eighth and final spot in next week's CCAC Tournament based on tie-breaking procedures.  USF will head to South Bend on Tuesday to face top-seeded and regular-season champion Indiana University South Bend to begin postseason play.  Game time has yet to be determined.

With the exception of a 3-3 tie, St. Francis led from beginning to end, breaking out to a 12-3 start.  Saint Xavier (16-11, 14-6) would respond with nine of the next 11 points to make it a 14-12 game before USF would eventually take a six-point lead (25-19) at the stop.

A 13-2 run starting early in the second quarter and capped by Tykara Harrison's personal 7-0 burst put the margin at double figures for virtually the rest of the afternoon, turning a 27-23 edge into a 40-25 advantage.  The only time the lead would dip below ten points was 58-49 for 13 seconds very late in the third quarter.  Another 14-2 run in the fourth quarter would seal the victory.

Some of the best numbers of the season resulted in the 35-point swing between the 68-54 loss back on Jan. 17 to the 21-point win on Saturday topped by head coach John McGinty's team converting 12-of-23 three-pointers.  Le'lani Harris led that charge with five treys en route to her game-high 23 points.  She also provided five rebounds and four steals.

USF also recorded its second-best overall shooting mark of the campaign at 52 percent, converting at a 26-of-51 clip.  At the free-throw line, St. Francis was 14-for-17 (82.4 pct.). 

On the opposite end, Saint Xavier hit at percentages of 36.7 from the field (22-of-60), 23.1 percent from three-point range (6-of-26) and 58.3 percent at the free-throw line (7-of-12).

Harrison and Laurelei Thormeyer were the other two Saints to net at least ten points.  Harrison totaled 19 markers and six assists, while Thormeyer, who hit a trio of three-pointers, finished with 13 points and six assists. 

Also coming up big were Mia Kennelly (career-high 14 rebounds, 9 points) and Senior Day honoree Keijah Gray (9 points, 6 rebounds).  Both players helped the Saints gain a 38-29 rebounding advantage.

Jaidn Green led Saint Xavier with 15 points.

Notes: Harris' scoring effort tied for the second-highest of her career.  Her five treys also tied her personal-best mark … Kennelly produced 14 rebounds, as well, in a win over Olivet Nazarene on Jan. 3 … Harrison extended her streak of scoring in double figures to 21 games ... The victory was the third in a row for the Saints, tying their season-high mark.

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