The Saint Francis women’s basketball team is perfect no more.
The Cougars (14-1) lost for the first time in 15 starts Saturday, falling 78-61 to host Saint Xavier at the Saint Xavier Christmas Tournament. The Cougars trailed 41-21 at halftime and never got back in it.
Skylaar Shurn scored 23 points, Meghan Slusher 13 and Brooke Ridley 12 for Saint Francis, which was outrebounded 39-33 and turned it over 22 times.
Women
INDIANA TECH 66, SPRING ARBOR 60: Tech made an eight-point halftime lead stand up in the SportOne Shootout at Tech. Chelsea Carradine led the Warriors (5-10) with 18 points, and Ulyssia Richmond (15), Kaneisha Bass (13) and Rayana Villalpando (10) also scored in double figures.
SPRING ARBOR 61, TRINE 56: At the SportOne Shootout at Indiana Tech, Trine (8-5) made just 9 of 28 shots in the second half and was outscored 36-26, as Sydney Spragg (14 points), Megan Loveberry (11) and Kelcey Swisher (10) led the scoring for the Thunder.
TRINE 99, ST. MARY-WOODS 79: At the SportOne Shootout, the Thunder outrebounded St. Mary’s 55-44 and won going away behind Swisher (20 points), Loveberry (19 and 10 rebounds) and Spragg (16 and 13).
HUNTINGTON 77, ST. FRANCIS (Ill.) 65: In Chicago, Huntington (10-4) put five players in double figures.
VALPARAISO 58, BALL STATE 53: The Cardinals led 30-22 at the half and 36-25 three minutes into the second half, but Valpo outscored them 33-17 the rest of the way.
Nathalie Fontaine scored 14 points, Brittany Carter 13 and Brandy Woody 12 for the Cardinals (3-10).
Men
WESTERN ILLINOIS 62, IPFW 50: In Macomb, Ill., Jack Houpt and Adam Link scored 16 points apiece, helping Western Illinois get off to the best start in school history as a Division I team.
The Leathernecks (10-3, 4-0 Summit) won their seventh straight game and bettered the 9-3 start from the 1986-87 team.
Ceola Clark added 14 points and six assists for Western Illinois, which shot 49 percent from the floor and hit 6 of 11 three-pointers. Houpt accounted for most of that, hitting 4 of 5 from long range.
Luis Jacobo scored 19 points and Joe Edwards had 10 for IPFW (6-9, 0-2), which shot just 32 percent from the floor. Frank Gaines, who ranks fourth on the Mastodons’ all-time scoring list, struggled through a 2 for 13 shooting performance and finished with eight points.
INDIANA TECH 87, OHIO STATE-LIMA 23: The Warriors led 47-8 at the half and cruised to the home victory. Four players scored in double figures for Tech, led by Melvin Brooks (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Jordan Hickman (17 points).
