Sat., Jan. 30, 2010

   INDIANAPOLIS -- What a great way to go into a bye.

  The University of Saint Francis puts its No. 14 ranking and a five-game winning streak on the line at Marian University on Saturday afternoon and won for the eighth time in its last nine games with an 84-76 decision.

   Junior guard Julie Seiss led USF scoring with 29 points, 15 in the first half and 14 in the second. Bessie Jenkins scored 19 points, 10 in the second half when USF outscored the 24th-ranked Knights 45-38. USF led 39-38 at halftime. Seiss's point total included 10-for-11 shooting from the free-throw line in the second half. Stacia Shepherd came off the bench to score nine points for USF, Bianca Woods added eight points and Chelsea Joseph and Kayla Mullins added six points apiece.

   USF improved to 15-9 overall , 9-2 in Mid-Central College Conference play with its sixth straight win. The host Knights dipped to 7-4 in MCC play, 15-9 overall.

   Megan Egenolf led MU scoring with 21 points. Theresa Fairbrother added 13 points and Natalie Robinson 10.

  USF held Rachel Kenny to two points for the game, a combination of Bianca Woods' defense and Jenkins takin' the ball right at her and getting her into foul trouble.

  "Bessie's tough for everybody to guard and she did a great job of being aggressive on the offensive end and drawin' fouls on Kenny," Andrews said.  "Bessie had an excellent game and converted a 3-point play that kind of gave us more control after they had cut our lead to four.

  "Down the stretch they had to foul us and we didn a nice job of knockin' down our free throws. We had everybody contribute to this win today, a huge win in the road against another Top 25 team,"  Andrews emphasized.

   USF resumes play on Sat., Feb. 6 at Hutzell Athletic Center at 1 p.m. against Goshen College.

Box Score