Women's basketball upperclassmen pose for picture - Crusaders fall to #9 St. Francis (Ill). 61-56
Kelly Cieslak - KeepersbyKelly.com
56
Madonna (Mich.) MU 0-1
61
Winner St. Francis (Ill.) SFIL 1-0
Madonna (Mich.) MU
0-1
56
Final
61
St. Francis (Ill.) SFIL
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Madonna (Mich.) MU 5 12 15 24 56
St. Francis (Ill.) SFIL 15 10 14 22 61

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Zachary Shore

@MUCrusadersWBB gives No. 9 St. Francis (Ill.) a scare in season opener

UPLAND, Ind. – The Madonna University women's basketball team opened up the 2018-19 season at the Taylor University Tip-Off Classic on Friday night and gave No. 9 University of Saint Francis (Ill.) all they could handle in a 60-56 loss at Olde Arena. Both teams had a trio of players finish in double-figures while the Crusaders fall to 0-1 and the Fighting Saints move to 1-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Kiki Darwiche scored the first points of the Season for MU as the freshman converted a shot in the paint and hit the and-one which cut the deficit in half, 6-3. Is wasn't the start the Crusaders had in mind as USF hit three consecutive 3-pointers to finish the opening 10 minutes with a 15-5 advantage.

  • What was encouraging was how the Blue and Gold responded. After they fell behind by 12 points Sheldon Bochenek converted a 3-point play and sparked a 9-0 Crusaders run, six off turnovers, as Bochenek netted five points and Cierra Von Zittwitz added four more to cut the margin to three, 17-14. Eight of the final 11 points went to the Fighting Saints as they took a 25-17 lead into the break.

  • Naomi Davis netted three the hard way and Hannah Reinhold scored in the point to once again make it a 3-point game, 25-22 with 8:43 left in the third quarter. A 14-4 run though by the NAIA's ninth-ranked team made it a 13-point contest. However, Madonna didn't back down as Bochenek scored four more and Reinhold added another basket to make it 39-32.

  • Down eight with 6:02 to play the Crusaders used a 9-2 run with three-pointers from Claire Leroux and Naomi Davis to cut the deficit to one, 53-52, with 2:39 left. The Fighting Saints converted some clutch free throws when needed to hold off the Crusaders.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Madonna finished the contest 22-of-50 (44%) from the field and 5-of-12 (41.7%) from beyond the arc with all five 3-pointers coming in the fourth quarter. MU converted 7-of-9 free throws and added 30 points in the paint, seven points off turnovers, four second chance points, 14 fast break points and 21 bench points.

  • USF shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from long rance and 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the charity stripe while the Crusaders won on the glass with a 34-24 margin.

  • Bochenek finished with a team-high 14 points and added three rebounds while Von Zittwitz added 13 points and grabbed six boards.

  • Reinhold chipped in 10 points and four boards while Emily Huff led MU on the glass with seven rebounds. Darwiche added six boards and five points.

RACHEL'S REACTION

  • "The girls played extremely hard from start to finish. They played for one another and never gave up. Despite the loss we are excited about the outcome against a highly regarded opponent. These girls worked their tails off, followed the game plan and played together. It was fun to watch. My assistants helped make some key adjustments and we competed as a whole and nearly pull out the win." - Head Coach Rachel Steinbarger

UP NEXT

  • The Blue and Gold wrap up play at the Tip-Off classic on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 6:30 p.m. against host No. 19 Taylor University.

  • Live video and stats links are available at www.mucrusaders.com.

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