WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

It was sweet revenge for the Cougars of Saint Francis Saturday afternoon at Hutzell Athletic Center where they took it to the Huntington women’s basketball team 91-61. Today’s USF win avenges an overtime loss to the Foresters earlier this season in first round action of CL play.

The two teams entered the contest with identical conference records of 5-6. The Cougars (13-8, 6-6) are currently tied for fourth with Grace while HU (11-11, 5-7) drops to sixth. The Foresters have struggled on the road, posting a 2-7 away record while going 9-4 when playing in the friendly confines of Platt Arena.

Huntington’s only lead of the day came before any time ticked off the clock thanks to a malfunctioning shot clock for which Saint Francis was assessed a technical. It resulted in a one-shot free throw that Bailey Kelham knocked down for HU’s only lead of the day at 1-0.

Kelham finished a perfect 9-for-9 from the line on her way to scoring 16 points to go along with five rebounds. Olivia Raby scored 14 of her 18 points in the opening 20 minutes to top the Foresters in scoring.

While offense did not come easy for the guests, the bigger struggle was containing the Cougars. When the hosts weren’t knocking down one of their nine triples, they were scoring in the paint which is where 40 of their points came from.

Saint Francis’ aggressiveness to the rim also paid off by way of the charity stripe where they cashed in on 20 of their 24 free tosses. USF shot just shy of 60.0 percent from the field, logging a season-best 59.6 percent, which included draining 52.9 percent of their long balls.

HU, on the other hand, shot 33.3 percent of their field goals (19-for-57) which included making good on only six of their 27 three-point attempts.

Saint Francis outscored their visitors every quarter for a steady widening of the gap from start to finish.

Taylor Fordyce came off the bench to finish with a game-best 21 points and nine rebounds. Emily Parrett chipped in 20 points and also came up with nine boards. Chloe McKnight rounded out USF’s double digit scoring with 18.

HU is back in action on Wednesday to host Mount Vernon at 5:00 p.m.