FORT WAYNE, IN – Playing the number one team in the Country is a great test to see how you can stand under the weight of playing the best. That was what the Lady Cougars were up against tonight against the University of Saint Francis Cougars and played on the road in Fort Wayne, IN. Spring Arbor stood eye ball to eye ball for the first 20 minutes and led the NAIA DII #1 team 36-35 before running into some foul trouble eventually falling to USF 75-60.
According to the St. Francis sports information office, this marked only the 6th time that St. Francis was either tied or trailed at the half.
The start of the second half didn’t go the way that SAU would have liked as USF scored the first nine points before Spring Arbor could stop the drought with a pair of Kylie Townsley free throws. Jessica Garrison hit a 3-pointer to cut St. Francis’ lead to four points (44-48) and that is a close as Spring Arbor would get as three SAU Cougars were hampered with four fouls and were used sparingly the rest of the way.
Spring Arbor’s Carlie Newman, Garrison, Rachel Driesenga, and Lindsey Burnside were all tagged with four fouls in the game.
Townsley lead the Cougars with 17 points and Burnside followed with 10 points. Karly Bender added nine points for Spring Arbor and Newman scored eight points and had eight rebounds.
Spring Arbor dropped to an even 9-9 on the season and 3-4 in the CL while USF remained a perfect 19-0 and 7-0 in the Crossroads. SAU will return home for a Saturday afternoon contest with the #5 team in the Nation when Indiana Wesleyan visits Bockwitz Court for a 3:00 tip.