Lady Cougars Drop Offensive Showdown Against St. Thomas Bobcats
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Thomas (13-0) | 29 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 85 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) (8-5) | 21 | 11 | 18 | 28 | 78 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - On Saturday afternoon the University of Saint Francis Lady Cougars (8-5; 4-1 Crossroads) travled down to Palm Beach, Florida to compete in the West Palm Beach Invitational with their first game against the St. Thomas University Bobcats (13-0) and despite a tough battle fell 85-78.
Opening the game, the Lady Cougars jumped ahead 8-3 against the still undefeated Bobcats, but St. Thomas stayed composed and fought back to tie the score at 13 just a few minutes later.
The Bobcats then began to build upon their lead capped off by three made free throws in the final seconds of the first quarter as the frame ended with Saint Francis trailing 29-21.
Opening the second quarter, matters didn't get any easier for Saint Francis as the deficit grew to 16 points in the opening minutes of the frame which eventually grew to 20 points. The game went to halftime with the Lady Cougars trailing 49-32.
Down but not out, the Lady Cougars came out for the second half determined to fight back and scored the first seven points of the third quarter.
However, a few clutch three's from the Bobcats put the Lady Cougars in dire straits faced with their largest deficit of the game at 22 points. They entered the fourth quarter still trailing by 17.
But in the final frame, the Lady Cougars found momentum on offense and managed to outscore the Bobcats 28-18 in the final frame, but it was too little too late as they suffered the seven-point loss.
Throughout the game, the Lady Cougars shot 43 percent from the floor, 45 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 40 percent from the free throw line. Senior forward Cassidy Crawford led the team in scoring with 24 points and had 14 rebounds for a double-double, while sophomore guard Chloe McKnight followed with 23 points of her own.
The Lady Cougars will wrap up their play in the West Palm Beach Invitational Sunday afternoon when they take on the Kaiser University Seahawks (9-4) beginning at 3:00 pm.
Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.