CHICAGO – Junior forward
Veronica Bafia (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) and sophomore guard
Brooklynn Johnson (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) each tallied 24 points on the night to help guide the Saint Xavier University women's basketball team (1-0/0-0 CCAC) to an 89-84 victory over St. Thomas University (Fla.) in their season opener Monday evening on Bob Hallberg Court at the Shannon Center in Chicago, Ill. Johnson recorded her first collegiate double-double, adding 11 rebounds. Overall, she was 9-for-14 from the field, and 3-for-4 from three-point range, along with an assist in 34 minutes of playing time. Bafia made 11-of-16 shot attempts with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal in 31 minutes of play. The Cougars improve to 3-0 in the all-time series with the Bobcats, earning a win in the NAIA National Championship First Round on March 6, 2013, in Sioux City, Iowa, and a neutral site triumph in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, on December 18, 2016.
- Freshman guard Laken LePage (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) made quite the collegiate debut for SXU, pouring in 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting and going 7-for-10 from the free-throw line. She added a game-high tying five assists, three rebounds and a steal in 30 minutes off the bench.
- Junior guard Lillie Woodworth (Hamilton, Ill./Lincoln Land/Hamilton) also made a splash in her Saint Xavier debut, draining 14 points and knocking down four treys. She also had two assists, two steals and a rebound in 22 minutes on the court.
- Sophomore guard Taryn Fisher (Westfield, Ind./Carmel) netted four points with three rebounds.
- Sophomore forward Alaina Peetz (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Township) grabbed four rebounds with a team-high three steals, three assists and a blocked shot.
- Freshman guard Desiree Merritt (Oswego, Ill./Oswego East) started in her collegiate debut, and she came away with two points and a pair of assists in 18 minutes on the floor.
- The Cougars won the opening tip and immediately scored on a layup by Bafia. SXU would build an 18-8 lead midway through the frame after a fastbreak basket by Johnson, receiving a pass from Peetz off of a steal. STU chipped away and tied the game at 18-18 on a layup at the 3:04 mark, and took their first lead of the contest on pair of free throws with 2:18 left. Merritt made her first collegiate basket to tie the game on the next possession. Saint Xavier ended the quarter up 29-24 with LePage hitting a three.
- Controlling the pace in the second period, the Cougars took their largest lead, 54-39 on a jumper by Johnson just before the halftime break. SXU was 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) in the frame, and defensively they limited St. Thomas to 33.3 percent (5-for-15) from the field, coming away with three steals.
- SXU struggled in the third quarter, shooting just 27.8 percent (5-for-18), but they maintained their lead at 66-59. Bafia scored on a layup to start the fourth period for a nine-point advantage, however the Bobcats responded with 13-2 run over the next four minutes to retake the lead, 72-71, with 5:45 remaining. The teams traded the lead down the stretch before Johnson sank a jumper, grabbed a rebound, and hitting a three-pointer in a 30-second stretch to pull away with an 86-81 lead with 55 second left. LePage made foul shots in the closing moments to secure the win.
Saint Xavier (1-0/0-0 CCAC) hosts Embry-Riddle University (Ariz.) at the Shannon Center on Thursday, October 29. The non-conference contest is set for a 7:00 pm start.
