Story by Nikki Sherrill, NAIA Media Coordinator

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – (Box Score) Entering the field as the No. 1 overall seed in the 2017 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship, St. Francis (Ill.) could have let the hype get to its head. After struggling at the beginning of their first-round game, the Fighting Saints came out of the gates early in their second-round match up over No. 5 Tabor (Kan.) and advance to their first-ever national championship quarterfinal after earning a 69-53 win.  

With only one loss to its name, St. Francis will put their season on the line in the quarterfinals on Saturday when it takes on the winner of No. 3 Eastern Oregon (29-4) and No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (27-6). That quarterfinal match up will tip at 3 p.m. Saturday. Either way, the contest will pit the Fighting Saints against an opponent they have never met on the national stage. The loss drops Tabor, the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament champion, to 27-7 on the year.

Tabor stayed even with the Fighting Saints in the first quarter, even capturing its biggest lead of the game at the 4:36 mark when they led by five. After Tabor’s run, St. Francis picked up the defense and connected on prompt shots to regain control of the tempo. Heading into halftime, the Fighting Saints held an 11 point advantage over the Bluejays at 28-17.

The second half saw St. Francis outscore Tabor in both quarters, but it was the charity stripe that helped the Fighting Saints hold on to advance into another game in the championship. Tabor recorded 19 fouls in the game compared to only eight from St. Francis. This difference allowed the Fighting Saints to earn free points at the line, going 77 percent. These free-throws hurt the chance for Tabor to pull the game closer in the fourth quarter, and eventually fell too far behind to see the game slip away.  

Two teammates for St. Francis captured double-doubles with Kamari Jordan earning 19 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Kaitlin Aylward going for 18 points alongside 14 rebounds. On the glass, St. Francis collectively out-rebounded the Bluejays 47-29. From the field, the Fighting Saints went for 40.7 percent, but only hit four 3-pointers.

Tena Loewen led the charge for the Bluejays with 11 points, and right behind her with 10 points was Amber Bonham. Not too far behind St. Francis from the field, the Bluejays were good for 36.7 percent while cashing five 3-pointers. With the loss, Tabor now sits at 8-8 in their eighth appearance in Sioux City.

In only their second appearance all-time at the national championship, the Fighting Saints are now 2-1 overall at this level.