FORT WAYNE, Ind. – After a red-hot end to the first half, the Spring Arbor University women's basketball team struggled to find its shooting touch in the second, allowing No. 8 University of Saint Francis (Ind.) to pull away 81-63 on Wednesday night.
The Cougars closed the first period 4-for-5 from the field, including three three-pointers, but would shoot just 24 percent over the final 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Saint Francis connected on 49 percent of its attempts, doing most of its damage down low, outscoring SAU in the paint 36-16.
Kylie Townsley finished with 19 points while Aimee Konkel and Lindsey Burnside followed with 16 and 11, respectively. LeAnn Porter hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds with five steals.
Spring Arbor held its own against the defending national champions through the first 10 minutes of the contest, but Saint Francis – one of the top scoring teams in the nation – used a lengthy run to push its lead to double digits, 38-23, with 6:06 remaining in the first half.
Still trailing by 15 with less two minutes to play before halftime, Konkel would ignite a 16-0 SAU run that spanned the final 1:56 of the first half and the first 43 seconds of the second to give the Cougars their first lead of the night. Konkel hit four straight shots, including a triple at the buzzer, to close the gap to four, 42-38, at the break. Then, Townsley and Burnside opened the second half with five unanswered points to put the team in front 43-42.
However, the Cougars committed several costly turnovers during a four minute stretch that allowed Saint Francis (20-7, 11-4 Crossroads League) to retake the lead with a 13-0 run and USF would never look back.
Spring Arbor (7-19, 2-13 Crossroads League) will return home to host No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan University (23-4, 14-1 Crossroads League) on Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 1 p.m.
- Follow Cougar Nation -
Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Live Stream
