Before the start of Saturday’s game, Saint Xavier recognized the seniors of the women’s basketball team for their contributions to the program. The four players who were honored included forward Claire Austin, guard Brianna Flayter, guard Alyssa Streeter, and forward McKenna Zobel.
Unsurprisingly, the Lady Cougars were able to send the seniors off the right way.
The No. 18 Cougars defeated Olivet Nazarene University 100-86, avenging the Tigers for their only conference loss of the season back in December.
The Cougars also won the CCAC regular-season championship for the third consecutive season and 17th time overall.
Alyssa Streeter capped off her Senior Day with a career-high 29 points on 11-18 shooting from the field, including four three-pointers.
Claire Austin posted 21 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds in a near triple-double outing. McKenna Zobel also added her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“I was feeling really good,” Streeter said after perhaps the best game of her career as a Cougar. “With the help of my teammates, I wouldn’t be able to get those shots. Olivet is a tough team and we used each other in just the right way and we came out with the win.”
Austin added, “It feels really good. I think last year they beat us in the conference championship, so we kind of had a little chip on our shoulder coming into this game. We remember them cutting our nets down and we just didn’t want that to happen again.”
With the conclusion of the regular-season, it is now onto postseason play for the Cougars.
“It’s another season, so now it’s different,” Coach Brewster stated after the game about the upcoming postseason. “It gets to be a little bit more pressure, but we got to figure out a way to have a good time and make sure that we’re still progressing.
Though Brewster has only been with the program for roughly four months, one thing he admires about this group is their closeness.
“It’s pretty special to be this close with this group. It tells you the type of team they are. They’re very close as well.”
Saint Xavier has a long history of success dating back a couple of decades and Brewster recognizes this and is grateful to be able to come in and continue the tradition of winning.
“To continue the tradition that was started by Coach Hallberg and carried by Coach Irvin, I don’t take that lightly.”
Brewster reiterates that although the team has already accomplished a lot this year, they are far from satisfied.
“We’ve had a lot of fun along the way, but we’re not done, and so, we’ll see what happens.”
The top-seeded Cougars will play No. 8 seeded Trinity Christian on Tuesday at 5:30 in the Shannon Center for the Quarterfinals of the CCAC Tournament.
The Cougars will have a home-court advantage throughout the conference tournament and will look to reclaim their title after a heartbreaking loss to Olivet in last year’s tournament championship.