Lakers Can't Keep Up With Fighting Saints In Second Half

JOLIET, Ill. – Roosevelt could not keep up with a hot-shooting St. Francis (Ill.) squad and ultimately fell 88-59 on Tuesday night in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action in Joliet.

The Fighting Saints raced out to a 12-0 lead before the Lakers got on the board courtesy of a Gabby Beggs layup with 5:26 remaining in the quarter. That started a quick 6-2 run for Roosevelt (1-6, 1-4 CCAC), but the Lakers made just three of its 15 shots in the first quarter. Meanwhile, St. Francis shot 8 of 13 from the field to take a 22-8 lead after the first quarter as it looked ready to run away with another conference matchup.

However, Roosevelt's fighting spirit shone through in the second quarter as the Lakers ramped up the defensive pressure to once again battle back into the game. Over the first 6:04 of the second quarter, the Lakers went on a remarkable 15-2 run to nearly erase the entire deficit against a team that had won its first three conference games by at least 60 points. Roosevelt limited St. Francis to just 3 of 17 from the floor in the second quarter to give its offense a chance to claw back into the game and trailed by four points at halftime. Beggs scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, including seven in the second quarter that helped bring some life to the Lakers.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Fighting Saints returned to form in the third quarter and used a 22-2 run over a six-minute stretch to really pull away. St. Francis shot 58 percent from the floor in the third quarter and made five 3-pointers to extend the lead. On the other side, the Lakers missed all six of their 3-point attempts and made just three of its 11 2-point shots as St. Francis outscored Roosevelt 31-10 in the third.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair with both teams managing to score at least 23 points and shoot better than 45 percent from the floor. Amelia McNutt scored seven of her nine points in the fourth while Meghan Urbanski added six of her team-best 15 points in the period. The Lakers were again shorthanded due to illness for this contest and were hampered by foul troubel for much of the game. Three Roosevelt players finished with four fouls and freshman Kencia Levasseur used all five of her fouls, trimming a short rotation even shorter. 

Roosevelt will have more than a week to rest and recooperate before playing its next game. The Lakers will try to snap their current five-game skid on November 30 when they welcome Holy Cross to the Goodman Center for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.