DAVENPORT, Iowa – The Olivet Nazarene women's basketball advanced to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament semi-finals after grinding out a 78-76 win over the fourth-seeded St. Ambrose Fighting Bees on Tuesday night. Kennedy Johnson and Karina Smits combined for 30 points while Caroline Boehne registered her ninth double-double of the season in the win.

ONU jumped on the Fighting Bees to lead it 7-2 less than two minutes into the game after Olivia Demosthenes made a three-pointer. SAU responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the contest. The home side led by as much as five with three minutes left in the period before a pair of Karina Smits baskets from beyond the arc kept the Tigers close trailing 25-23 at the end of the first period.

 A Kaitlyn Engle block on the defensive end of the floor led to a made three-pointer from Smits as Olivet regained the lead, 29-27 two minutes into the second quarter. The hosts built back their four-point advantage with under two minutes in the half when Maggie Cora and Avery Curry each converted a three-point bucket before the first half expired. This 6-2 run to cut Saint Ambrose's lead to one going into the locker room.  

Halftime: St. Ambrose 39, Olivet Nazarene 38

The Tigers exploded for a game-high 26 points in the third quarter. They built a 12-point lead when Smits' three-point jump shot at the 1:42 mark. Boehne went 3-4 from the floor attributing to seven points in the period while the rest of the starting five combined for an additional 12 points shooting 52.4 percent from the field in the 10-minute span. SAU ended the period on a 5-0 run and the score stood at 64-57 entering the fourth.

Johnson and Boehne closed out the game with 9 points scored between the two players. ONU increased their lead to a game-high 13 points with 7:40 remaining forcing a timeout from the home team. Out of the 30-second timeout, SAU made two threes 20 seconds apart from one another to spark a 14-4 run to close the margin to a single possession lead. The Tigers led 77-73 with five seconds left when St. Ambrose's three-point shooter was fouled in the act of shooting. All three free throws were converted to cut the lead to one. The Fighting Bees' deep heave as time expired was unsuccessful allowing the visitors to hang on and move on to the next round.  

Game Vitals

Final: Olivet Nazarene 78, St. Ambrose 76

Records: Olivet Nazarene 20-10 (CCAC 16-6) | St. Ambrose 24-6 (CCAC 17-5)

Location: Lohman Arena | Saint Ambrose University | Davenport, Iowa

Quick Hits

• Kennedy Johnson and Karina Smits each scored a team-high 15 points in the game.
• Caroline Boehne's 9^th double-double of the season consisted of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• The Tigers turned the Fighting Bees over 21 times with 14 steals leading to 9 fastbreak points.
• Boehne snagged a game-high 6 of the team's 12 offensive rebounds. ONU held the 12-9 advantage on offensive boards despite being outrebounded 47-38 in total.

The Tigers will continue their CCAC Championship Tournament quest with a visit to Saint Xavier on Thursday, Feb. 24. Tip-off in Chicago is slated for 5:30 p.m. Please visit onutigers.com for the must up to date links to follow all the action.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu