Home Opener
After a ceremony to dedicate the main arena floor at the Shannon Center to head coach Bob Hallberg (for more, see pages 1 and 2), the Cougars defeated the Trinity International University Trojans 87-46 in their home opener last Wednesday.
Junior forward Morgan Stuut led the Saint Xavier women’s basketball game with 22 points in 33 minutes. She added a team-high 13 rebounds and six assists, while tying for the team lead with two blocks.
Redshirt freshman guard Sidney Prasse lit it up from three-point range all night. She sunk five of her 10 shots from beyond the arc and finished the game with 17 points and a team-high four steals.
Prasse and freshman Revi McMahon each showed some strong ball-handling skills in transition. The two guards had some nifty behind-the-back dribbles entering the offensive end of the court.
McMahon logged just 14 minutes of playing time but capitalized with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Junior guard Suzie Broski was the only other Cougar with double-digit points in the game. She shot six-of-eight from the floor for 12 points, plus she came down with five rebounds.
The Cougars led 43-25 after the first half, including 10 points off turnovers and six points from bench players.
But things did not go the Cougars’ way in the very early going. They found themselves down 9-4 on three-straight three-pointers.
Saint Xavier quickly got back on track, however, going on a 21-6 run between that deficit and the midway point in the first half. It was smooth sailing from there against an outmatched Trojan team.
Face-Off Against No. 1
The next test for the women’s basketball team was against No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University on Friday.
The Indiana Wesleyan Wildcat team showed that it was deserving of the No. 1 ranking, winning 89-62 over Saint Xavier.
Stuut again topped the score sheet with a team-high 19 points, two assists and 10 rebounds. She was perfect from the free-throw stripe and from beyond the arc, going five-of-five from the line and two-for-two from distance.
Senior Niara Harris saw only 20 minutes on the court, but she was the second leading scorer with 10 points.
She was two-for-seven from the floor, but she got to the free-throw line a team-high seven times and converted a team-high six attempts.
She was one of only four Cougars to even attempt a free throw, and only three of them made an attempt.
The Cougars were in good shape with 14:26 remaining in the first half. They were tied 12-12 at that point before the Wildcats went on a 14-3 run to go up 26-15 at the midway point in the first half.
The Wildcats would dominate the rest of the way.
Next-Day Comeback
The Cougars came back on Saturday with a decisive 84-63 win against No. 20-ranked Grace College.
Stuut shone again in victory, this time putting up 35 points to tie for the second most in program history. The school record for most points in a single game belongs to Erin Hannemann, who racked up 39 against Olivet Nazarene University in 2009.
Senior forward Dana Sibley was strong in limited time. She played 24:15 but grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and scored eight points. She was also perfect in her two attempts from beyond the arc.
The team was strong down low and on defense, scoring 36 points in the paint and 31 points off turnovers.
They will need to continue to their strong play today when they travel to Milwaukee to take on No. 15-ranked Cardinal Stritch University.
If you cannot make the trip, listen live at 5:30 p.m. on WXAV 88.3 FM or on sxustudentmedia.com.
Tim Carroll
Senior Sports Editor