The month of January is over and February is now upon us but even though this is a new month two things have not changed.
It still looks and feels like the inside of a snow globe outside and Saint Xavier Women’s Basketball just keeps on winning.
Saint Xavier extended its amazing winning streak to 16 games with two more conference victories this past week against Holy Cross College and Cardinal Stritch University.
During this impressive streak the Cougars have annihilated their opponents by an average of 20 points but Holy Cross College provided the team with a tough test.
The Cougars went on the road Wednesday night to take on conference foe Holy Cross. It was a very close game but they prevailed 79-76 in one of their few nail bitters over these past two months.
It was close game throughout even though SXU did go up by 10 at halftime but a 14-4 run by Holy Cross early in the second half canceled out that deficit.
The Cougars would lead by as many as nine in the second half but the Saints would not go away.
The Saints ended up putting a lot of pressure on the Cougars cutting the deficit to one at 75-74 with under 40 seconds to play in the game.
The team kept their composure and junior guard Maloree Johnson, sophomore forward Caitlin McMahon, and freshmen guard Mikayla Leyden delivered key free throws in the closing moments to preserve the victory.
Junior forward Morgan Stuut led the team in scoring with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting and ripped down eight rebounds.
Her fellow frontcourt mate, McMahon, had a double-double finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
After the close win the Cougars turned their sights to a showdown on Saturday afternoon with conference rival, then No. 6 ranked Cardinal Stritch.
SXU came out ready to play pouncing quickly on the Wolves by bursting out to 17-6 lead in the opening minutes of the game.
They used tough defense, high energy, and a total team effort to beat the Wolves 75-63 to extend their streak to 16 wins and counting.
The Cougars also improved to 9-0 at home on the season.
Caitlin McMahon had a record-setting afternoon gathering the first triple-double in her young college career while breaking the school’s record for most blocked shots in a single game. She finished with 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting, 14 rebounds, and 10 blocks in 38 minutes of action.
The Cougars got contributions from all over the place including of course the star forward Stuut.
She also nearly had a triple-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and nine assists.
Senior guard Niara Harris looked like the fastest player on the court Saturday slashing to the rim at will during the first half and finishing with 15 points and four assists.
Junior guard Suzie Broski finished with 12 points for the Cougars on 4-for-10 shooting and senior guard Jordan Brandt had eight points, four assists, and also was 2-for-3 from three-point range.
The team played great throughout the big game leading by as many as 24 one point.
The Wolves showed some resolve shaving the big lead down to eight with about two minutes to go.
The Cougars buckled down defensively and did not allow the Wolves to score a point the last two minutes of the game to hold to the win.
The Cougars moved to 21-3 overall and 11-1 in conference play with the win and will play No. 18-ranked Purdue University Calumet on Wednesday in a conference game that will take place at the Shannon Center at 5 p.m.
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