CHICAGO – The Roosevelt women's basketball team built a 23-point third-quarter lead and held off 22nd-ranked Cardinal Stritch's fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Wolves, 80-72, at the Goodman Center on Saturday.
Paige Gallimore led four players in double figures with 20 points for the Lakers (8-4, 3-3 CCAC), who also nearly had a triple-double effort from Lindzy Cox with the sophomore posting 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Emily Duckhorn connected four times from downtown en route to 14 points, while Ashley Smoldt added 10 points and nine boards.
Kelli Schrauth led the Wolves (6-5, 2-4 CCAC) with a game-high 27 points.
In a matchup between Stritch's top-five conference scoring offense and Roosevelt's top-five conference scoring defense, the Lakers were able to go toe-to-toe with the Wolves offensively and broke open a close game with a big third quarter. Roosevelt scored 27 points on 11-for-15 (73 percent) shooting during that vital stanza, going up by 23 points heading into the fourth.
Gallimore and Smoldt did most of their offensive damage in the third with eight points apiece.
In the fourth, Stritch used the long ball to chip away at the big deficit by connecting on five three-pointers to eventually get within six with 49 ticks left in regulation.
Roosevelt was able to fend off the Wolves' comeback attempt, as Gallimore made three free throws in the game's final stages and the Lakers' defense withstood Stritch's shots from beyond the arc as Roosevelt forced the Wolves to miss three trey attempts in the final 23 seconds.
"I'm so proud of our team," Roosevelt head coach Keisha Newell said after the win over a nationally-ranked foe. "This was another game where multiple players stepped up on both ends of the court. We executed the game plan, paid attention to detail, and truly played as a team. Cardinal Stritch is a really good team and this is a big win for our players and our program.
"I thought Paige had the best game yet of her senior season," Newell said of the senior Gallimore. "She was able to keep us poised down the stretch. We got another big performance from Lindzy and it's so great to see her flourish and impact the game in so many different ways. Becca [Bergman] yet again was the heart of our defense. Not only that, having eight assists and zero turnovers in 40 minutes is very impressive. I could go down the list. Everyone on our roster contributed to this win in some way.
"I am beyond proud of our ladies for trusting the process and staying the course," Newell said. "We are looking forward to getting better this upcoming week in practice."
Roosevelt has the week off of regular season game action for final exams before facing Trinity Christian in Palos Heights next Saturday.
