FORT WAYNE, Ind. – On Saturday afternoon the University of Saint Francis Lady Cougars (8-4; 4-1 Crossroads) played host to the Spring Arbor University Cougars (6-4; 1-4 Crossroads) at Hutzell Athletic Center and prevailed 67-57.

Opening the game, the Lady Cougars set the tone early on, building a five-point lead just five minutes into the game. Although Spring Arbor stayed resilient and started closing in on the deficit, Saint Francis was able to respond each time with a clutch defensive stop or a make.

At the end of the first quarter, Saint Francis held the lead at 13-7.

Heading into the second quarter, the Lady Cougars picked up where they left off by building upon their lead and riding the momentum through the frame.

Saint Francis built a lead as big as 15 points during the second quarter, and several clutch layups made by freshman center Ally Madden gave the Lady Cougars all the momentum as they took the game to halftime leading 33-20.

Throughout the first half, Madden had a team-leading 12 points for the Lady Cougars after outscoring Spring Arbor 20-13 in the second quarter.

Going into the second half, the Lady Cougars continued their dominance over Spring Arbor as they got their lead back out to 15 points in the early minutes of the third quarter. The lead grew to as big as 20 points for Saint Francis as they were firing on all cylinders.

The Lady Cougars led by as many as 22 points late in the frame, but then Spring Arbor began to fight back. The third quarter ended with Saint Francis still ahead 50-36, but Spring Arbor had scored six unanswered points to close the deficit to 14 points.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars maintained their comfortable lead, but then Spring Arbor continued to chip away at the lead at one point closing to within six points late in the game. But Saint Francis managed to hold off any such comeback as they get themselves back in the win column.

Throughout the game, the Lady Cougars shot 44 percent from the floor, 25 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 61 percent from the free throw line. Ally Madden led the team in scoring with 17 points and had 12 rebounds, while senior forward Cassidy Crawford had herself another double-double with 15 points, and a team-leading 12 rebounds.

The Lady Cougars resume play next Saturday, December 17 when they travel to West Palm Beach, Florida to compete in the 2022 West Palm Beach Invitational with their first game against the (RV) St. Thomas University Bobcats (11-0) beginning at 3:00 pm.

Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.