Upsets Galore In Opening Round of Women's Basketball Tournament
CHICAGO --- Three of the top four seeds fell in opening-round action of the 2023-24 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night, creating for a nearly all-Indiana semifinal on Thursday night.
No. 7 seed Olivet Nazarene University gained the biggest upset by knocking off No. 2 Governors State University 83-74. No. 6 seed Holy Cross College also claimed a nine-point upset (87-78) of No. 3 Saint Xavier University, while No. 5 seed Indiana University Northwest edged out No. 4 seed Roosevelt University 57-54.
The lone team not to fall into the upset soup was top-seeded Indiana University South Bend, which scored a 77-60 win over University of St. Francis.
Semifinal-round action will take place 4.3 miles apart from each other on Thursday with Holy Cross (16-13) hosting Olivet Nazarene (15-14) at 5 pm CT and Indiana Northwest (17-11) traveling to Indiana South Bend (28-1) for a 6 pm CT matchup.
The two winners advance to Saturday's title game at the site of the highest remaining seed.
Recapping Tuesday:
Indiana South Bend 77, St. Francis 60
The top-seeded Titans fell behind 7-0 at the start before scoring 15 of the next 17 points and 28 of the next 35 to cruise to the win. Maddie Gard and Tenleigh Phelps both registered 25 points for IUSB, which shot 58 percent from the field. Le'lani Harris led St. Francis with 18 markers.
Indiana Northwest 57, Roosevelt 54
In a contest that was nip-and-tuck the whole night with Roosevelt having a chance to tie at the end of the game, Indiana Northwest prevailed behind Jessica Carrothers' 27 points and another 11 from Katelyn Halfacre. Both teams struggled to find their offensive games with Indiana Northwest converting at a 31 percent clip (18-of-58), while Roosevelt hit on just 25 percent of its shots (21-of-84) and went 3-for-29 from three-point range (10.3 pct.). The latter held a 63-46 rebounding advantage behind Jayla Turchin's double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds). Kencia Levasseur led the Lakers with 14 points.
Olivet Nazarene 83, Governors State 74
A 50 percent shooting effort from three-point range (13-of-26) carried Olivet Nazarene to the upset victory with Olivia Demosthenes (19 points) and Bett O'Neal (10) leading the offensive charge. Governors State put four of five starters in double figures, including Tabetha Jones with 21. Da'Naria Washington (12 assists, 10 points, 9 rebounds) fell one rebound short of a triple-double for GSU.
Holy Cross 87, Saint Xavier 78
Both teams had plenty of players step up with nine combined hitting for double figures in the scoring column. Holy Cross' Grace Adams led all with her 31-point, 16-rebound performance, while Jordyn Smith chipped in with 17 points. The Saints also shot 47.6 percent from the field (30-of-63). Saint Xavier had five players hit for at least ten points with Bethany Baldwin scoring 23 points off the bench. The Cougars also gained double-doubles from Eleanor Harris (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Alyssa Crenshaw (10 points, 14 rebounds), but made only 4-of-28 three-pointers (14.3 pct.).
The results and updated schedule follow:
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Game #1: No. 1 seed Indiana South Bend 77, No. 8 Seed St. Francis 60
Game #2: No. 5 seed Indiana Northwest 57, No. 4 seed Roosevelt 54
Game #3: No. 7 seed Olivet Nazarene 83, No. 2 seed Governors State 74
Game #4: No. 6 seed Holy Cross 87, No. 3 seed Saint Xavier 78
Thursday, February 29, 2024 (at site of highest remaining seed)
Game #5: No. 5 Seed Indiana Northwest (17-11) at No. 1 Seed Indiana South Bend (28-1) --- 6 pm CT
Game #6: No. 7 Seed Olivet Nazarene (15-14) at No. 6 Seed Holy Cross (16-13) --- 5 pm CT
Saturday, March 2, 2024 (at site of highest remaining seed)
Game #7: Winner-Game #5 vs. Winner-Game #6 --- TBA