CHICAGO - The Roosevelt women's basketball team ended the first half of its road game against 11th-ranked Saint Xavier on a 9-2 run to take a five-point lead into the break, but the Cougars opened the second half by outscoring the Lakers 20-1 en route to handing Roosevelt an 81-61 defeat at the Shannon Center on Saturday.
Casey Davis scored a team-high 17 and Tori Clark turned in her third double-double in the last seven games with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers (16-5, 11-3 CCAC), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Morgan Stuut had a double-double of game-high production, scoring 25 points and pulling down 19 boards for the nationally-ranked Cougars (16-3, 11-3 CCAC).
Roosevelt led for most of the first half, with the Lakers holding the hosts to 29 percent shooting while getting good looks at the cup thanks to unselfish passing that featured 11 assists on their 14 baskets.
The Lakers' run to end the first half was highlighted by Davis' four-point play, as the junior guard drained a trey while getting knocked to the floor by Stuut with 50 seconds until halftime, and Erin McCaslin's downtown make right before the buzzer.
But the Cougars clamped down on defense and heated up on the other end of the court right from the get-go of the final period. Saint Xavier held Roosevelt to just 25 percent second-half shooting, aided by the Lakers missing their first nine shots of the period, while shooting just over 58 percent to ignite the back-breaking 20-1 run in the stanza's first eight minutes.
"It was very disappointing to come out and play so poorly in the second half," said Roosevelt head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. "I give Saint Xavier a lot of credit. They played great defense and took us out of our game completely."
Four of Roosevelt's five losses this season have come against nationally-ranked foes. The combined record of the four opponents that have defeated Roosevelt is 64-13 as of this afternoon's games.
Roosevelt hosts Holy Cross this Wednesday, Jan. 16 at the Lillian and Larry Goodman Center beginning at 5:30 p.m.
