USF Women's Basketball Rolls in CCAC Tournament Opener

JOLIET, Ill. – Hours after being selected as a First Team Academic All-American, University of St. Francis sophomore Katie Gonnering (Seymour, Wis./ Freedom) scored her 1,000th career point as the Saints cruised past Judson University 71-56 in the opening round of the  Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Monday  at the Sullivan Center. | Box Score

Monday's victory sends sixth-seeded USF (14-16) into a CCAC quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 seed Cardinal Stritch University (24-6) Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

Gonnering led the Saints with a game-high 21 points on the night. Her final basket with 1:05 remaining in the contest raised her career point total to 1,000 in just the 54th game of her career.

USF never trailed the Eagles. The Saints opened up a 46-24 advantage at the half and remained on top by double digits throughout the second stanza. Judson (9-22) trimmed the deficit to 59-49 with 6:08 remaining, but a pair of layups from senior Ashley Teresiak (Orland Park, Ill./ Sandburg) 38 seconds apart stymied the Eagles' last threat.

Freshmen Alexis Brown (Shiloh, Ill./ Belleville East) and Debra Jenkins (Chicago, Ill./ Morgan Park) added 13 and 12 points, respectively, as USF defeated Judson for the third time in as many meetings this year. Brown connected on three of six 3-point field goal attempts.

Diamond Williams led the way for the Eagles with 14 points, 19 rebounds and three assists. Anna Kirchoff finished with 12 points and Rebekah Tabb chipped in 11.