ONU Women's Basketball Crowned CCAC Champions

CHICAGO – For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the RV Olivet Nazarene University women's basketball team are your Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) champions defeating the No. 19 Saint Xavier University Cougars, 102-93, inside the Shannon Center, on Monday night.

The first quarter started with both teams trading the first 20 points making the score 10-10. Kennedy Johnson (JR/Romulus, Mich.) dropped four and Olivia Demosthenes (FR/Bloomington, Ill.) hit a three, while St. Xavier marked two three-pointers, during that stretch. The rest of the quarter was highly contested as neither team could distance themselves from each other, until the Cougars marked the final 10 points of the quarter and led 27-22 at the end of the quarter. Alyssa Streeter, from Saint Xavier, led with 6 of those 10 points.

The Cougars then scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take a 17-point lead, until Karina Smits (JR/Pewaukee, Wis.) and Molly Ream (FR/Fort Wayne, Ind.) brought the Tigers back to life with back-to-back three pointer. However, the Cougars still led by 11. Then, after a Cougars field goal, the Tigers got the three-ball working again as Avery Curry (JR/Chicago, Ill. ) cut the Tiger deficit down to 10 at 41-31. That three by Curry sparked a 10-0 run for the Tigers as they cut the lead to 41-38.

The Tigers were trailing until 33 seconds left in the first half when Zanna Myers (JR/Monticello, Ill.) buried a three making the score 55-52 going into halftime. Johnson led the Tigers with 13 points, while Cougars' guard Meg Knutson led with 15 points.

Halftime: RV Olivet Nazarene 55, No. 19 Saint Xavier 52

The Tigers started the third quarter marking three-pointers by Demosthenes and Smits, however the Cougars stuck around and did not trail by as much as four in the first couple minutes of the quarter. Then, the Cougars went on a 11-2 run to pull ahead by six points at 69-63. Kaitlyn Clark (JR/Orting, Wash.) was the Tiger who had the lone field goal during that run and who broke up the run. Clark's run-breaking layup set up a 9-5 run to end the quarter. Saint Xavier took a 74-72 lead going into the final stanza.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the team two teams kept it close with the Tigers hitting both of their fourth quarter three-pointers. The Tigers led 82-80. With four minutes to go, the Tigers and Cougars were still neck-and-neck until ONU marked seven of the next nine points to go up 91-86.

The Cougars kept hanging in the game, however the Tigers made 15-of-16 free throws to seal their second CCAC championship in three years winning, 102-93

Game Vitals

Final: RV Olivet Nazarene 102, No. 19 Saint Xavier 93

Records: RV Olivet Nazarene 17-3 | Saint Xavier 16-3

Location: Shannon Center | Saint Xavier University | Chicago, Ill.

Quick Hits

• Kennedy Johnson led the Tigers with 24 points and 8 assists and Myers followed with 14 points.
• Meg Knutson led the Cougars with 18 points and Sydney Lovitsch followed with 15 points.
• Caroline Boehne (JR/Hoffman, Ill.) led the Tigers with 14 rebounds, including 9 on the offensive glass.
• Brianna Flayter led the Cougars with 10 boards.
• The Tigers shot 91% from the charity strike (21-23)
• The Cougars outrebounded the Tigers 54-46.

What's Next?

Both the Tigers and Cougars await their next matchups for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Tournament. The Selection Show will air on Thursday, March 4^th at 6 p.m. CST, live on the NAIA Facebook Page. (https://www.facebook.com/PlayNAIA)

--ONU—

*Contact: Sam Viebrock, Sports Information Director, stviebrock@olivet.edu