The Saint Xavier Women’s basketball team made a statement against Saint Ambrose with a 72-44 win in a battle of the two top teams in the conference.
The Cougars were again led by Claire Austin, who nearly recorded a triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and a career-high nine steals.
Bri Flayter had her typical well-rounded game, as she tallied 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Alyssa Streeter also added 11 points, two rebounds, and two steals off the bench.
After a back-and-forth opening minutes, the Cougars ended the first quarter with a 10-1 run. They went on to outscore Saint Ambrose 27-9 in the second quarter and never looked back from there.
The win put the Cougars at sole position of first place in CCAC standings.
The Cougars followed up the victory against Saint Ambrose with four more blowout wins against Calumet College of St. Joseph, Holy Cross College, Cardinal Stritch University, and Lincoln College.
With 21 points in the win against Holy Cross, Claire Austin became the 21st player in the program’s history to score 1,000 or more career points for the Cougars.
“It means a lot,” Austin said after the win. “Ever since I came to Saint Xavier, it was kind of my goal to hit 1,000 points here, so being able to achieve that with my teammates and the help of them was a great feeling.”
Austin is the second Lady Cougar to reach the 1,000 point mark this season. Senior Sidney Lovitch hit this milestone on December 7 against Olivet Nazarene.
As they continue to stack wins, the Lady Cougars are climbing the rankings and have now moved up to No. 18 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
The Cougars have not lost a game since their loss in December to Clarke University and are currently on a 12-game winning streak with two regular season games remaining. They will look to keep this momentum going into the CCAC tournament next week, and after that, the National Tournament.
The Cougars will host Olivet Nazarene on Saturday for their last regular season game. Olivet gave them their only conference loss of the season early on in the year. The Cougars will also be looking to get revenge on Olivet for defeating them in the CCAC championship on their home court a year ago.
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