In their opener to the 2013 season, the Saint Xavier Cougar women’s basketball team defeated the University of Illinois at Chicago on the road by a final score of 80-79.
In addition to outscoring UIC, the Cougars also outrebounded, finishing the game with 42 rebounds to the Flames’ 38. Saint Xavier especially dominated in defensive rebounds with 30 to the UIC’s 20.
The Cougars completed the upset of UIC with a last-second three-point shot by redshirt freshman guard Sidney Prasse, who had missed the 2012 season with an injury.
Do not let the buzzer beater fool you into thinking that the Cougars had to pull a Houdini to win the game. Saint Xavier led by as many as 12 points with 13:33 left in the second half. By contrast, the Flames’ largest lead of the game was a mere seven points with 4:48 remaining in the second half.
The Cougars won despite being outscored 52-46 in the second half largely because they did not miss the shots they took. They shot over 50% from the floor in the second half, finishing 16-of-29 in field goals as a team. They were also a perfect three-for-three from the three-point line in the second half, and the Cougars were perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 11-of-11.
Junior forward Morgan Stuut led the Cougars in scoring with 17 points, converting 10 of her 11 free-throw attempts. She also led the team with 12 rebounds and seven assists, while tying for the team lead with two steals in her 37 minutes.
Senior Jordan Brandt played just 23 minutes, but she made them count with 13 points and a three-for-four mark from beyond the three-point arc.
Junior Suzie Broski played all 40 minutes against the Flames and put up 16 points in the winning effort. She was the best shooter from the floor, finishing the game eight-of-12 in field goals and tying Stuut for the team lead with two steals.
The Cougars will try to build off their impressive season-opening win today when they get their home schedule started against Trinity International University.
Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. following a ceremony to rename the main arena floor at the Shannon Center.
The new moniker, Hallberg Court, is so named because of the contributions to Saint Xavier’s athletic department from the women’s basketball head coach Bob Hallberg, who took over the inaugural program in 1999.