Joliet, Ill. - The Aquinas women's basketball team put together strong first and fourth quarters in Wednesday's (Dec. 6) non-conference game against St. Francis, but the home Saints used a large third quarter advantage to pull away from AQ, 79-75. Aquinas led by as many as a dozen points in the first half before USF took a 14-point lead in the second half and held on in the final minutes for the four-point victory.

The result puts AQ at 3-6 on the season, while St. Francis improves to 6-4 overall.

Aquinas outscored St. Francis 18-8 in the first quarter and remained on top at halftime, 34-29. In the third quarter, however, USF used a 30-13 scoring advantage to gain control and held strong over the frantic fourth quarter that featured 48 points. AQ held a 28-20 edge in the fourth, but the home Saints held on for the win.

Alona Blackwell scored a game-high 27 points on 9-for-21 shooting and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. She added six rebounds and three assists. It was her eighth 20-point scoring game in nine contests this year. Paige Guernsey scored a career-high 18 points, making 7-of-9 field goals and 3-of-4 freebies. Guernsey totaled team-highs of four assists and three steals.

Ciara Hardy also reached double-digits, with 12 points and six rebounds. She went 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Maddie Sermak and Emily Bissett each scored six points. Sermak was 3-for-6 from the floor and Bissett grabbed five boards - all offensive - while chipping in two steals. 

Ashlyn Wilkes pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Alexis Thomas chipped in four points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

AQ jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the game's first three minutes and used two buckets from Blackwell and another from Hardy to open an 18-8 advantage heading to the second quarter. The lead grew to 12 points early in the quarter on a Blackwell jumper and Aquinas remained comfortably in front the remainder of the quarter. Guernsey's layup in the final minute gave the visiting Saints a 34-29 lead heading into the locker room.

St. Francis hit on all cylinders in the third quarter, scoring 30 points to turn a five-point deficit into a 12-point lead heading into the fourth. Trailing 59-47 entering the final frame, Aquinas attempted to chip away and pulled within four points (73-69) in the final minute. Unfortunately, USF drained all six free throw tries to maintain the lead and close out the game.

The home Saints held a large 10-1 advantage in made three-pointers over AQ, though Aquinas (18-of-21) outscored USF (12-of-13) at the charity stripe. Overall, St. Francis shot 50.9 percent from the field and the visiting Saints hit 41.2 percent.

Aquinas held leads in points off turnovers (19-14), second chance points (18-6), and points in the paint (36-30). Committing just 10 turnovers in the game, AQ also held a 36-33 rebounding advantage and a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass.

The Saints return home for Holiday Hoops this Saturday (Dec. 9), when Aquinas hosts Lourdes at 1:00 p.m.