CHICAGO — No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene University gained the only upset of the night in first-round play of the 2022 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday. The Tigers used a 26-point third quarter to fuel a 78-76 victory over No. 4 seed St. Ambrose University
Top-seeded Saint Xavier University scored the most convincing victory with its 96-69 decision over No. 8 seed Trinity Christian College, while No. 2 seed University of St. Francis and No. 3 seed Indiana University South Bend both had to rally for their wins.
St. Francis used a 30-point fourth quarter to overcome No. 7 seed Holy Cross College 71-55, while Indiana South Bend outscored No. 6 Indiana University Northwest by 17 points after the break en route to a 72-63 victory.
That sets up Thursday night’s semifinal action with Olivet Nazarene (20-10) heading to Chicago to face Saint Xavier 24-5) and St. Francis (24-6) hosting Indiana South Bend (25-6).
Recapping Tuesday:
Saint Xavier 96, Trinity Christian 69
Five different Saint Xavier players scored in double figures to lead the Cougars to their 16th straight win. Maia Fawcett led the way with her team-high 20 points, while Sidney Lovitsch provided 12 points, seven assists, four steals and three blocks. SXU scored no less than 25 points in three of the four quarters, while holding Trinity Christian to 28.6 percent shooting from the field.
St. Francis 71, Holy Cross 55
St. Francis trailed by four points after one quarter and by as many as five points with just under nine minutes remaining before closing the contest on a 28-7 run and shooting 64 percent in the final quarter. In just her second collegiate start, Hannah Swiatek hit for a career-high 23 points with six three-pointers, while Andriana Acosta recorded her 12th double-double (22 points, 16 rebounds) of the season to keep USF perfect at home (13-0) on the season.
Indiana South Bend 72, Indiana Northwest 63
South Bend gained the bragging rights between the Indiana University-system schools by outscoring Northwest 48-31 in the second half after trailing 32-24 at the break. Katie Gard and Maddy Schumacher each totaled 16 points for the winners with the former also collecting eight rebounds. Tiara Jackson recorded a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) for the RedHawks. The win was the tenth in a row for the Titans.
Olivet Nazarene 78, St. Ambrose 76
Olivet Nazarene’s 26-point third quarter opened up a gap that St. Ambrose was never able to recover from the rest of the night. Kennedy Johnson, Karina Smits and Caroline Boehne all contributed to that frenzy. Smits and Johnson each put up 15 points with Johnson also dishing out six assists. Boehne added a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) to offset the same feat by SAU’s Kylie Wroblewski (25 points, 13 rebounds).
Tournament results and the remaining schedule follow:
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Game #1: No. 1 seed Saint Xavier 96, No. 8 seed Trinity Christian 69
Game #2: No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene 78, No. 4 seed St. Ambrose 76
Game #3: No. 2 seed St. Francis 71, No. 7 seed Holy Cross 55
Game #4: No. 3 seed Indiana South Bend 72, No. 6 seed Indiana Northwest 63
Thursday, February 24, 2022
Game #5: No. 5 seed Olivet Nazarene (20-10) at No. 1 seed Saint Xavier (24-5) — 5:30 pm
Game #6: No. 3 seed Indiana South Bend (25-6) at No. 2 seed St. Francis (24-6) — 7 pm
Saturday, February 26, 2022 (at site of highest remaining seed)
Game #7: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #6 — TBA