Pride head into winter break with loss at No. 16 St. Francis

JOLIET, Ill. - Using the semester break to play more of their non-conference slate, the Clarke University women's basketball team dropped their last game before their winter break 91-65 to No. 16 University of St. Francis on the road on Wednesday night.

The Saints steadily grew their lead throughout the entirety of the game, winning every quarter, bookending the game with an eight point first quarter to lead 24-16 after 10 minutes and finishing at a 26-17 advantage to pull their lead to its eventual largest lead of 28 points at 89-61 with just under 90 seconds to go.

USF mixed a combination of inside and outside to shoot 35-for-74 (47.3%) from the field, scoring 44 of their 91 points in the paint and 30 more from beyond the arc, shooting 10-for-23 (43.5%) from three point range as they also outrebounded the Pride 54-33 that included 16 offensive rebound but only for 11 second chance points compared to just four second chance points on seven offensive rebounds for CU.

The game's leading scorer was Le'lani Harris of the home team as she produced 34 points on 12-of-20 (60%) shooting from the field, that included a 6-for-9 (66.7%) shooting night from deep while adding seven rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot as one of three players on the Saints to score in double figures.

Clarke had two players in double figures led by a 26-point game from Zoe Kennedy as she shot 50 percent from the field, hitting three triples, and going 9-for-10 (90%) from the free throw line as she produced five rebounds, an assist, and a steal while the reigning Heart Defensive Player of the Week in Reese Ryan had another strong performance despite the loss as she recorded her first double-double of the season and second of her career with 15 points and 12 rebounds with three steals and three blocks in 36 minutes.

That duo for the Pride combined for 14 of the team's 22 shots made from the field as nobody else made more than three shots during the game on a night where CU shot 22-for-65 (33.8%) from the field and Kennedy hit half of the team's six shots from three point range where they shot 23.1 percent on their 23 attempts.

Clarke women's basketball will play one more game right at the very end of the 2025 calendar year when they welcome St. Ambrose University to the Kehl Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31 for a non-conference matchup scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. CT.