St. Francis (IL) News
Sat, Jan. 15, 2011 - [Women's Basketball]
Junior guard Brandi Pudik notched a career-best 28 points to lead USF.
Junior guard Brandi Pudik notched a career-best 28 points to lead USF.
JOLIET - No. 24 Olivet Nazarene University led nearly the entire game but had to battle down to the final minute to hold off upset-minded University of St. Francis before the Tigers pulled out a 118-109 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference women's basketball victory at the Sullivan Center Saturday night.
 
The high-scoring Tigers (14-4, 2-0), who lead the nation with an average of 103 points per game, needed to top their own high-scoring average in what has become a traditional scoreboard challenging game between these two schools.This game marks the third time in the last five seasons that both teams have topped the 100-point mark in the annual games played at the Sullivan Center.

USF (7-13, 0-3) hung in on the strength of some strong outside shooting and five players who scored in double figures. The Saints shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from three-point range on the evening.

Junior guard Brandi Pudik (Kankakee CC/Washington, IL) led the Saints with a career-best 28 points and had 22 of those in the first half. Junior guard Michelle Karr (Providence Catholic H.S./Tinley Park, IL) added 25 points, with 17 coming in the second half.Pudik made 6 three-pointers and Karr added 5 treys.


Junior guard Julie Schiffler (Nazareth Academy/La Grange Park, IL) added 21 points. Freshman reserve center Caitlin Cody (Mother McAuley H.S./Chicago, IL) scored 12 points and senior forward Tori Albrecht (Downers Grove North H.S./Downers Grove, IL) added 11.


USF's only lead in the game was at 7-5 in the early going. Olivet Nazarene led by as many as 10 points (35-25) in the first half and did not extend the lead to its biggest margin at 12 points until the final seconds of the game when they led 118-106 before USF closed out the scoring with a three-pointer.


The loss was the third in succession for USF -- all in CCAC play. The Saints will try to get back on the winning track on Tuesday night when they travel to Notre Dame, Ind., for a non-league tilt at Holy Cross College. The game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. (CST) and will be the front half of a women's and men's doubleheader between USF and HCC.