Portsmouth, Ohio – Shawnee State women's basketball made it five wins in a row on Sunday afternoon, as the No. 7 Bears defeated Saint Francis (Ind.) 75-72 on an Ashton Lovely (SR/Jamestown, Ohio) game-winner with 3.5 seconds to go.
The game would begin close as the two teams slugged it out in the first quarter. Laken Smith (SO/Waverly, Ohio) opened the scoring with a lay-in, but Whitney Will quickly answered with an and-one on the other end. Ashton Lovely then hit a pair of free throws to give SSU the lead back, but Savannah Buck put the Cougars up 5-4 early with a lay-up. After Bailey Cummins (JR/Brooksville, Kentucky) hit her own floater to give the Bears back the lead, Saint Francis would score three straight baskets, capped by Tyon McKenzie's jumper for an 11-6 lead. However, the Bears would rally with a three from Lovely and another lay-in from Cummins to tie the game, and would find themselves in the lead on another Lovely three at 14-13 after one quarter.
The second quarter would begin with more of the same, as Will put the Cougars up but Natalie Zuchowski (FR/Ravenna, Ohio) scored through traffic to respond. Lauren McBryar then hit a three to put Saint Francis up 18-16; Shania Massie (SR/Greenfield, Ohio) responded to tie the game again, and Will hit a pair of free throws to put USF back up two. Leah Wingeier (SO/Newark, Ohio) the entered and hit in the post, and Cummins would score right after to put SSU back up by two points; Emma Applegate hit in the post on the other end, but the Bears would score seven unanswered, capped by another Lovely three to go up 31-24. McBryar hit another three to cut the lead back to four, followed by Lovely and Will trading twos heading into halftime, as Shawnee State led 33-29 at the break.
Early threes from Lovely and Smith gave Shawnee State their first double-digit lead of the afternoon, as SSU went up 46-36 early in the third period. Saint Francis would cut the lead back down to six through McBryar and Buck, but Lovely hit again from distance with 4:31 to go in the quarter to give SSU back a 51-41 lead. Cummins gave the Bears a 12-point lead just one possession later, and the Bears would hold away Saint Francis to keep their lead. Cummins hit a three with 33 seconds to go to put the Bears up 60-50 heading to the fourth quarter.
Coming out in a press, Saint Francis would furiously rally in the fourth quarter. With SSU up 62-52, Saint Francis chipped away, eventually cutting the lead to 66-60 and calling a timeout after another Will lay-in. Smith hit a lay-up to put the Bears back up eight, but USF would control the game from there, chipping away at the lead until Sidney Crowe hit a free throw to cut the lead to 70-69.
Saint Francis would take the lead with less than three minutes to go on Emma Applegate's straightaway three, giving the Cougars a 72-70 advantage. After wasting two possessions, Shawnee State would get a key stop with 1:09 to go, and tie the game on Cummins' lay-in. After Applegate was called for an offensive foul late, the Bears would get one more possession. Lovely would take advantage, coming off a screen on the left hand side to find herself wide open from three, which she would bury with 3.5 seconds to go. Saint Francis would get one final possession, but could not get a shot off as Shawnee State escaped with a 75-72 win.
The Bears shot 41.5% from the field and 33.3% from three on the day. SSU held Saint Francis to 38.5% from the field and 31.0% from three while outrebounding the Cougars 34-32. SSU went 12-15 from the free throw line, while Saint Francis went 13-19 from the stripe.
Ashton Lovely had a game-high 31 points and the game-winner to lead Shawnee State, shooting 9-22 from the field and 7-15 from three. Bailey Cummins added 19 points for the Bears; Cummins now finds herself only two points shy of 1,000 for her career.
Whitney Will led a trio of Saint Francis players in double-digits with 20 points. Lauren McBryar and Savannah Buck each had 13 points for the Cougars.
The win sees Shawnee State improve to 13-3 on the season, as the Bears have won five in a row. Saint Francis falls to 11-6 and sees a four-game winning streak snapped. Shawnee State now leads the all-time series against Saint Francis 7-3.
Shawnee State women's basketball kick off Mid-South Conference play on Saturday, January 5 when they welcome Pikeville to Portsmouth. Tipoff is set for 2:00pm at Waller Gymnasium.
