SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Junior Aimee Konkel scored a game-high 20 points, and Spring Arbor’s strong fourth quarter performance helped the Cougars to a 63-56 victory over the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Wednesday night.
After taking a slim 38-37 lead into the final period, Spring Arbor logged 25 points over the final 10 minutes for its third win in the last four games.
Konkel equaled her season-high with seven field goals, including four three-pointers. Sophomore Autumn Goggin added 14 points and seven rebounds while junior Kylie Townsley finished with 10 points, five boards and five steals.
Saint Francis (12-12, 8-7 CL) took advantage of a slow start by SAU and jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. The visitors would maintain their lead throughout much of the first two periods and would close the half on a 6-0 run to grab a 30-24 edge at halftime.
The Spring Arbor defense took over in the third quarter limiting Saint Francis to just seven points while forcing eight turnovers. Trailing 33-30 late in the period, Konkel and freshman Ryann Laier converted USF giveaways into points to put the Cougars on top. After the visitors fought back, Townsley would knock down a jumper in the closing seconds of the quarter to give SAU a 38-37 advantage heading into the fourth.
In the final period, Goggin scored seven of the first eight points for the Cougars to give the team its largest lead of the night, 46-40, with 6:43 to play. Saint Francis would claw its way back, getting within three at the 5:54 mark, but Goggin responded with a big three-pointer, and junior Rachel Driesenga sank a pair of free throws to push the margin to eight, 53-45.
Saint Francis refused to go away, however, and closed the gap to one with less than a minute remaining, but the Cougars would go a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to clinch the victory.
Saint Francis outshot Spring Arbor and held an edge in rebounding, but the Cougars forced 22 turnovers and went 20-for-26 from the charity stripe compared to USF’s 12-for-20.
Driesenga hauled in a game-best 14 rebounds to go along with five points. Senior Jessica Mabry chipped in six points and two assists while junior Karly Bender ended the night with a team-leading four assists.
Spring Arbor (15-12, 7-8 CL), currently in a tie for fifth place in the Crossroads League standings, will visit league-leading, and No. 3 ranked, Marian University (24-3, 15-0 CL) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m.