South Bend, Ind. – The AQ Saints women's basketball team traveled the South Bend this afternoon (Jan. 21) to take on the (RV) Indiana University of South Bend Titans. IUSB took an early lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Titans closed out the game with a 62-48 victory and earned their 18th win of the season.

AQ falls to an 8-12 record over the 2022-23 campaign and remains 4-9 in WHAC conference play. IU-South Bend improves to 18-1 on the year with a 12-1 conference record.

IU-South Bend kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer just under a minute into the first quarter. A layup and another three ball got the Titans out to an early six-point lead with AQ playing catch-up. That would be the story for the remainder of the quarter as IUSB converted two more threes to give themselves an 18-6 advantage with just over two minutes to play.

A small 4-0 run between Eliza Brown and Mauriya Barnes reduced the deficit to one possession, but the Titans would close out the quarter with a 4-0 run of their own. The home side held a 22-10 lead heading into the second quarter of play.

The Saints would attempt to reduce the deficit back down to one possession throughout the second quarter, but the two sides traded buckets for the full ten minutes. A pair of three-pointers from Brown got the Saints back to just a ten-point deficit on multiple occasions. However, IU-South Bend always had a reply for AQ's big plays.

With just ten seconds remaining in the second quarter, Barnes converted a layup to bring the score to 35-25 in favor of the home side. The second quarter went much better for the visiting Saints as they outscored IUSB 15-13.

A lot of back-and-forth action early in the second half moved the score to 43-33 with both teams scoring eight points just two minutes and 25 seconds into the third quarter. The game flow completely flipped after the two free throws from Barnes ended the scoring spree. Neither side managed to score a point until IUSB broke the stalemate with 2:51 left to play in the quarter.

Emily Cline and Barnes both scored a layup with the third quarter winding to a close, but IU-South Bend still held a 50-37 advantage with just one quarter left to play.

The Titans started the final quarter hot and grew their lead to 18 with roughly six-and-a-half minutes left to play in regulation. Great defense from IUSB held AQ to just 11 points throughout the quarter. A free throw from JaKarri Alven with a minute and 40 seconds left on the clock was the final point scored in regulation. However, it would be the Titans that walked off of their home court with a 62-48 victory.

IU-South Bend held the advantage across the board in statistical categories, leading in field goal percentage (47.2-37), three-point percentage (34.8-21.4), rebounds (35-29), assists (16-7), and blocks (4-0).

Barnes had a team-high 11 points during the game on 4-13 shooting from the field. She also had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Brown was the other Saint to hit double-digit scoring. She scored an even 10 points on 4-8 shooting that included two three-pointers. She added four rebounds and one assist to her stat line.

The Saints are back in action this Wednesday (Jan. 25) with a home matchup against Lourdes. The ball is set to tipoff at 5:30 PM in the Sturrus Center.