Cougars send HU home with 78-70 loss

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – A balanced attacked lifted the Cougars of Saint Francis (12-14, 8-8) past the HU women's basketball team, 78-70, Wednesday night at the Hutzell Athletic Center.

Despite knocking down a season-best 15 threes and forcing 18 turnovers to the tune of 23 points, the Foresters (9-17, 4-12) struggled to get stops in the paint and gave up a string of critical threes late in the second quarter to suffer their second loss to the Cougars this season.

HU's first nine points were all from downtown as they played even with their hosts at 9-9 five minutes in. A traditional three-point play by Celeste Ryman in the final minute of the quarter was just enough to tilt the score in favor of the guests 14-13 at the first break.

The start of the second quarter started just like the first with Huntington hitting three threes to cling to a 23-21 advantage with five minutes remaining in the half. What happened next left the Foresters shook as USF unleashed for four triples in the final three minutes to take over the lead 38-28 in what seemed the blink of an eye.

It got worse before it got better as the Cougars spent the first six minutes of the third quarter extending their lead to 25 at 58-33. Ryman answered the call to get her team back in it by dropping in back-to-back threes after which Konnor Gambrell scored down low twice on the next two trips down the floor to make up some ground heading into the final ten minutes.

Ryman continued her tear from long range by throwing in two more treys early in the fourth to eventually trim it to 11 at 62-51 with 7:30 to go. A pair of Emily Seboe free tosses midway through the quarter made for a seven-point ball game at 64-57.

Unfortunately, it would be as close as the visitors would get as the Cougars staved off their guests mainly from the charity stripe to make for the final eight-point difference.

Ryman ended up with a six long balls on her way to erupting for a career-high 23 points. After a lengthy absence, Gabi Melby was back in action to add 15 points which included a trio of threes in the final minute of play. Alli Vaughn did a little bit of everything for her team by posting eight points, six rebounds and five assists. Seboe and Gambrell also finished with eight points apiece in addition to corralling six and five boards respectively.

All five of USF's starters ended up in double figures highlighted by Cassidy Crawford who registered 19 points and 14 rebounds for the game's only double double. The other starters' contributions included Julia Mantyla with 13, Emily Parrett with 12, Chloe McKnight with 11 and Reganne Pate with 11. Ally Madden came off the bench to account for the Cougars' other 12 points.

Huntington returns to Platt Arena on Saturday to host Mount Vernon at 1:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Reportranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.