SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Titans struggled to overcome a tough night shooting, as IU South Bend fell in their return to the Student Activities Center to St. Francis (Ill.), 68-55.
Junior Maddie Gard led all scorers, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while Katie Gard collected 11 points as the only other player in double figures for the Titans (13-5, 6-4 CCAC). As a team, the IUSB struggled to find a rhythm, shooting 38.3% (23-60) from the floor, and 14.8% (4-27) from three-point range.
IUSB took a brief lead midway through the first quarter, when Maddie Gard capped a run of six straight points to put the Titans in front 6-5 by the 5:40 mark. Gard would score the team’s first ten points of the night, but a drought of over four minutes without a field goal allowed the visiting Saints (14-6, 11-2 CCAC) to claim a 14-12 lead by the end of the opening period.
St. Francis started the second quarter with a trio of three-pointers to go up 23-16 with 6:34 left in the first half. The Titans closed the gap to 27-25 with a pair of buckets from Emma Fisher, but the Saints closed on a 6-2 run over the last 90 seconds to go into the half with a 37-31 lead, with Amaya Rufus hitting a layup at the buzzer to make it a six-point game.
Fisher opened the third quarter with a layup, but the outside shot again allowed the Saints to keep a comfortable lead. Leading by two, the Saints responded with back-to-back threes to quickly go back up ten, 43-33, and would hold no less than a six-point advantage the rest of the way.
IU South Bend will look to bounce back on Saturday, when they travel to Lincoln for an afternoon matchup with the Lynx. Tipoff on January 22 is set for 2:00 p.m. ET.
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