NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- A 26-point second quarter, along with 13-point performances from Laurelei Thormeyer and Abby Shepard, enabled the University of St. Francis women's basketball team to eke out a 69-63 victory over Holy Cross College (Ind.) in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play Wednesday night.  With the win, USF improves to 18-5 overall and 11-4 in league play.

Holy Cross (14-9, 8-7 CCAC) came into Wednesday's contest winning four of its last five contests, while outscoring its opponents by an 89-point margin.  St. Francis, however, seemed to crack the code in the first half, largely due to its dominance on the boards.  As a result of a 9-2 advantage on the offensive glass, USF authored 14 points on second-chance opportunities compared to HCC being blanked in the same category.  That proved to be a big factor in the Saints carrying a 45-32 lead into the halftime break.

Holy Cross, however, made things interesting in the second half.  After cutting its deficit to five points after outscoring USF 17-9 in the third quarter, Holy Cross fought all the way back to tie the game at 56-all with 5:33 remaining in the fourth frame.  Head coach John McGinty's club would finish the ensuing five-minute stretch going on a 10-2 run, hitting three of its next six shots with four free throws.  At the same time, Holy Cross converted on just one of its seven possessions, going 1-for-6 from the field with a turnover.  Over the remaining 29 seconds, each team would trade baskets before confirming the 69-63 final score.

For the game, USF was 22-of-58 from the field (.379), including 7-of-25 from three-point range (.280).  HCC converted at a .391 rate (25-of-64) with eight long-range buckets.  USF also made all but one of its 19 free throw attempts in the game (.947), giving it a 13-point advantage over Holy Cross' 5-of-7 mark.  Defensively, USF outrebounded Holy Cross 46-32.

Le'lani Harris and Symone Harrell joined Thormeyer and Shepard in reaching double digits in the scoring column.  Both players posted 10-point efforts, while also grabbing seven rebounds apiece.   Shepard's 13 points were part of a 28-point production from USF's bench compared to HCC's 10-point showing.

Grace Adams led Holy Cross in scoring with 19 points, while collecting 11 rebounds.  Allie Caldwell provided 16 points and four treys.

Up Next
USF will travel to La Crosse, Wis. on Saturday February 8 to face Viterbo University in a CCAC matchup beginning at 1 pm.

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