On Wednesday, February 18, the #4 ranked Saint Xavier women’s basketball team played the Roosevelt University Lakers. The Cougars played very well in this one, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The Cougars got off to a fast start in this one, going on a 9-2 run to begin the game.
After the Lakers cut the lead down to 12-7, the Cougars would go on a massive 22-10 run to open up the game with a 34-17 lead with just under 9:30 minutes left in the first half. After trading baskets with each other for just over four minutes, the Cougars found themselves up 43-26 with 5:10 left in the first half.
At this point, the Cougars turned up the intensity again and went on a 14-5 run to end the first half with a 57-31 lead.The start of the second half was very competitive despite the fact that Saint Xavier had a massive lead.
Both teams battled for the for seven minutes of the half, with the Cougars holding a comfortable 69-41 lead with 13 minutes left to play in the second half. From here, Saint Xavier would go on an 8-1 run to extend their lead to 77-42 with 8:47 left in the game.
Roosevelt would answer though, going on an 11-4 run to cut the Cougar lead down to 81-53 with six minutes left in the game. But the #4 ranked team in the NAIA would not allow their opposition to get any closer as they would close out the game on a 16-8 run to seal the game by the score of 97-61.Sophomore guard Mikayla Leyden had herself a career game, setting herself a new career high in points with 20 in the game.
The 20 points were also the most scored by any player on the Cougars in this game. Leyden shot 8-11 from the field and 4-6 from beyond the three point line.
She also added in five assists, four rebounds, and two steals to round out her impressive performance. Morgan Stuut also had a terrific game, getting her 19th double-double of the season by scoring 15 points and collecting 12 rebounds.
She also had five assists, two blocks, and a steal to cap off another great performance. Kara Krolicki had a great performance scoring 15 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
Caitlin McMahon had a dominant defensive performance in this game, as she collected 10 rebounds and swatted away six shots. She also scored 10 points to collect a double-double in this game.
Brittany Collins also scored in double digits with 10 points and recorded a game-high four steals.
The #4 ranked Cougars had a good showing in this one. One of the reasons for that is that they had a dominant defensive performance. They only allowed the Lakers to make 27.1% of their shots from the field and only 29.4% of their three point field goal attempts. Another reason why they won so handily was because they dominated in the paint, both offensively and defensively.
Saint Xavier scored 44 points in the paint, while only allowing Roosevelt to score 24 points in the paint.With the win, the Cougars clinched the #1 seed in the CCAC Tournament and an automatic bid in the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships.
Their record improved to 26-2 with a conference record of 17-0. With a win on Saturday at home, which also happens to be Senior Day, the current Cougars can boast that they are the only team in the basketball program’s history to have a perfect conference record.
On Saturday, the Saint Xavier women’s basketball team played Trinity Christian College. The Cougars came into this game motivated to make history and to go into the conference tournament on a high note.
Before the game started, seniors Morgan Stuut, Maloree Johnson, Margaret Wildner, and Suzie Broski and their families were all honored for the players’ four years with the basketball program.
The Cougars’ defense showed up once again, holding Trinity to just two points in the first seven minutes of the game while scoring 11 points in that same time to take an early 11-2 lead. But, unlike past opponents that the Cougars have faced, Trinity Christian fought back and closed their gap to 20-15 with under 10 minutes left in the first half. From there, the Cougars and the Trolls would battle each other for the rest of the half, with the Cougars taking a 43-36 lead into halftime.
The second half started out like the first, with the Cougars going on a 16-5 run to push their lead to 59-41. From this point, these two teams would play a tightly contested half for most of its duration.
With 4:52 left to play in the second half, Trinity Christian’s coach got a technical foul called on him for arguing with the referee. This allowed for Saint Xavier’s lead to grow to 70-54 due to the made free throws from Broski.
These teams would go back to battling each other for the rest of the half after the technical foul, resulting in Saint Xavier cruising to a 79-68 win.
Near the end of the game, the crowd gave a standing ovation to the Cougars and their seniors who played on Senior Day. Stuut recorded her 20th double-double of the season scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 19 rebounds.
Broski also had a good Senior Day scoring a game-high 16 points. Johnson scored five points in her last regular season home game and Wildner recorded two points and a block in her last regular season home game.
Other players with good games were Kara Krolicki, Mikayla Leyden, and Caitlin McMahon. Krolicki finished the game with 15 points and four assists, Leyden had 14 points and recorded six rebounds, and McMahon scored seven points and blocked three shots.
With the win, this group of Cougars became the first team in program history to finished the season with an undefeated conference record at 18-0. They also finished the regular season with a record of 27-2.
The Cougars will host their first game of the CCAC Women’s Basketball Tournament on February 25, against the winner of the Calumet-IUSB game at 5 PM.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor