Score: Keiser 69, Saint Francis (Ind.) 59
Records: Keiser (10-4), Saint Francis (Ind.) (8-6)
Location: Student Life Center, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Keiser Starters: Shykim Gillion (G),
Kennedy Schlabach (G),
Elliana Schaefer (G),
Elise Ellison-Coons (F),
Andressa Nascimento (F).
Saint Francis (Ind.) Starters: Emily Parrett (G), Cassidy Crawford (F),Chloe McKnight (G), Julia Mantyla (G), Reganne Pate (G)
Elliana Schaefer scored a career-high 16 points to help guide the Keiser women's basketball team to a 69-59 win over Saint Francis (Ind.) on Sunday afternoon. The win marked the fifth straight for the Seahawks, who improve to 8-1 in non-conference action this season.
Trailing 45-44 with 8:59 left in the game, Keiser went on an 11-2 run to grab the lead and never look back en route to the team's fifth straight victory.
Keiser 11, Saint Francis (Ind.) 10
- Elise Ellison-Coons got the scoring started with an "and-one" bucket with 8:50 on the game clock.
- The Lady Cougars tied the game with a 3-pointer by Chloe McKnight (8:40).
- After a pair of made free throws by Saint Francis (Ind.), KU tied the game on a layup by Shykim Gillion with 7:14 remaining in the first.
- The Lady Cougars took a 7-5 lead before Keiser went on a 6-0 run to take an 11-7 advantage with 1:13 on the game clock.
- Saint Francis (Ind.) responded with a 3-pointer by McKnight, cutting Keiser's lead to 11-10 with 0:55 left in the first quarter.
Saint Francis (Ind.) 27, Keiser 23
- Keiser again got the scoring started in the quarter as Kennedy Schlabach hit a jumper with 9:48 on the game clock (13-10).
- The Lady Cougars scored on back-to-back buckets by Cassidy Crawford to take a 14-13 lead with 7:38 left in the half.
- Gillion got the lead back for the Seahawks, draining a jumper with 6:53 on the game clock, 15-14.
- Both teams exchanged 3-pointers as Keiser held an 18-17 lead at the 5:22 mark.
- Crawford made it a 20-18 game in favor of the Lady Cougars with a her third 3-pointer of the game (4:42).
- Taylor Jones tied the game at 20-all with a pair of made free throws (3:02).
- The Lady Cougars went on a 5-0 to take a 25-20 lead (1:43).
- Saint Francis (Ind.) extended their lead to 27-21 with 1:11 left in the first half on a layup by Crawford.
- With 47 seconds left in the half, Gillion cut the lead to four, 27-23, with her 11th points of the game.
Keiser 44, Saint Francis (Ind.) 39
- Crawford pushed the Saint Francis (Ind.) lead to six points with a made layup (9:16).
- McKnight added another three points for the Lady Cougars with a 3-pointer at the 8:40 mark, 32-23.
- Ellison-Coons ended the Lady Cougars run with a made jumper (8:17), 32-25.
- After two successful attempts at the free-throw line (Schlabach), Elliana Schaefer hit a 3-pointer with 6:34 on the game clock to cut the Saint Francis (Ind.) lead to 32-20.
- Schaefer extended the Keiser run to 9-0 with a made layup, tying the game, 32-32, with 5:59 left in the third.
- Crawford regained the lead for the Lady Cougars with a made bucket at the 5:11 mark (34-32).
- Julia Fitzwater collected the offensive rebound then hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to give Keiser a 35-34 lead (4:39).
- Schaefer hit her second 3-pointer of the quarter, extending the Seahawk's lead to 38-34 with 3:16 remaining in the quarter.
- Fitzwater hit Keiser's third straight 3-pointer (2:34) to push the lead to 41-34.
- Reganne Pate ended the Seahawk's 9-0 run with a basket from beyond the arc, 41-37 (2:34).
- Schlabach hit her second 3-pointer of the game to make it a 44-37 game with 1:06 left in the third.
Keiser 69, Saint Francis (Ind.) 59
- Pate hit a 3-pointer to get things start in the fourth to cut Keiser's lead to 44-42 (9:06).
- Pate hit a second 3-pointer as Saint Francis (Ind.) took the lead, 45-44 with 8:59 on the game clock.
- Keiser retook the lead, 46-45, after a pair of made free throws by Ellison-Coons (7:57).
- Another trip to the free-throw line - this time by Gillion - gave Keiser a 48-45 edge (7:37).
- After a Crawford made layup, Schaefer drained another 3-pointer as KU led, 51-47 (7:01).
- Gillion extended Keiser's lead to 53-47 with a made jumper at the 6:15 mark.
- Schlabach made it a nine-point game with her third 3-pointer with 4:22 left in the game (58-49).
- Saint Francis (Ind.) ended a 2:19 scoring drought with a made layup by Emily Parrett, 58-51.
- Schaefer pushed the Keiser lead back to nine with a made jumper at the 2:21 mark (61-52).
- A 3-pointer by Schaefer (her fourth of the game) with 51 seconds left to play gave KU a 66-56 lead.
- This win improves Keiser to 10-4 overall this season.
- With the win, Keiser has won five straight.
- Sunday marked the first meeting between Keiser and Saint Francis (Ind.).
- The Lady Cougars are the fifth "first-time" opponent this season.
- With the win, Keiser improves to 5-2 at Student Life Center.
- The non-conference win improves the Seahawks to 8-1 in games outside of Sun Conference play.
- Shykim Gillion led all Seahawks with 17 points, shooting 7-of-15 from the floor.
- With 17 points this evening, Gillion has now tallied 911 points for her college career.
- Elliana Schaefer recorded a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a 4-of-5 outing from beyond the arc.
- Sophomore Elise-Ellison-Coons led the Seahawks in rebounding with nine, bringing her season average to 9.2 per game (No. 3 in the conference).
- Kennedy Schlabach scored 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting and led the squad with six assists.
- Schlabach leads the Sun Conference in assists per contest (4.3).
- Ties: 6
- Lead Changes: 10
- Largest Lead: Keiser (10); Saint Francis (Ind.) (9)
Keiser
Saint Francis (Ind.)
- Points: Cassidy Crawford (21)
- Rebounds: Cassidy Crawford (12)
- Assists: Cassidy Crawford (7)
The Seahawks take on Marian (Ind.) on Friday, December 30, as part of the Webber Int'l Shootout. Tipoff is set for 1:30 PM.
