After a somewhat successful performance last week in the Siena Heights University Thanksgiving Tournament, the SXU Women’s Basketball team looked to repeat their success this week against Roosevelt University and Indiana University-South Bend.
The week started on November 28th when the Saint Xavier Cougars traveled downtown to play Roosevelt University. The Cougars entered the game with a 3-3 record, while Roosevelt entered the game with a 3-5 record. The game started with SXU jumping out to a 16-5 lead with five minutes to play. The Cougars kept up their dominance and ended the first quarter with a 21-12 lead.
The second quarter started with Roosevelt trying to make a comeback. The Lakers were able to narrow the SXU lead from nine to three, but the Cougars kept their lead and ended the first half with a 32-27 lead.
The third quarter was more of the same dominance from the Cougars, who eventually ended the third quarter with a 51-41 lead. The fourth quarter began with an attempted comeback from Roosevelt, but they were only able to narrow the lead down to six.
SXU responded by going on a 13-3 run and eventually ending the game with a 72-56 lead. The Cougars improved to 4-3 on the year, while Roosevelt fell to 3-6 on the year.
Three days later, the Cougars played Indiana University-South Bend at the Shannon Center.
Saint Xavier entered the game with a 4-3 record, while IU-South Bend entered the game with a 6-4 record. SXU started the game by jumping out to a 9-2 lead, but IU-South Bend was able to come back and take a one point lead with three minutes to play in the first quarter. Both teams played back and forth before the first quarter came to a close with both teams tied at 17.
The second quarter started with SXU’s offense dominating the IU-South Bend defense, which allowed the Cougars to get an eight point lead.
The Titans tried to come back, but SXU ultimately ended the second quarter with a 39-35 lead. The third quarter started with Saint Xavier continuing their dominance by jumping out to a 13 point lead.
IU-South Bend was able to trim the lead to 10, but the Cougars still finished the third quarter with a 58-48 lead. It seemed like the Titans just gave up after that quarter, as they only scored six points in the fourth quarter while allowing 16. With that, the game came to an end with the Cougars winning 74-54.
Saint Xavier improved to 5-3 on the year, while IU-South Bend fell to 6-5 on the year. This week was a very successful week for the Saint Xavier Women’s Basketball team.
They defeated two decent opponents by big margins and were ranked as the 22nd best team in the NAIA in the process.
The Cougars play once next week, against Judson University, before they travel down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the 2018 Cruzin’ Classic, where they play Johnson & Wales University and Grand View University.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor