Chicago, Ill. - The No. 25 Indiana University Northwest women's basketball team could not pull away as the RedHawks lost to No. 17 Saint Xavier, 72-57, at the Shannon Center Saturday. 

IUN was ahead 7-3 in the early going after a three-pointer by Jessy Siems (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central). SXU outscored the RedHawks 13-7 the rest of the quarter to go ahead 16-14 after the first.

The Cougars opened up the second quarter with back-to-back baskets then the RedHawks scored nine points in a row to take a 23-21 lead capped off by a three-pointer by Breanna Boles (Lapel, Ind.) and a layup by Ashley O'Malley (Crown Point, Ind.).

Back-to-back threes by Boles and O'Malley gave the RedHawks a 29-23 advantage with 3:58 left for their biggest lead of the half.  SXU had a 13-3 run to close out the final almost four minutes of the half to go ahead 36-31.

The second half was opened up by two baskets in a row by SXU to put them ahead 41-31. The RedHawks got right back in the game after three layups in a row by Lauren Smolen (Crown Point, Ind./Lake Central), Michaela Schmidt (Highland, Ind./Highland) and Siems which made the score 41-37.

A few minutes later, the RedHawks were able to tie it at 44-all after a trifecta from Sarah Martin (Demotte, Ind./Kankakee Valley) and a layup by Boles.  Saint Xavier outscored the RedHawks 9-4 the rest of the third quarter to go up 53-48.

Martin opened up the final period with a three-pointer to make it a two-point game. After that three, SXU started to pull away. 

Smolen got the RedHawks back within five after knocking down a pair at the line which made it 61-56 with under five minutes left. SXU was able to outscore IUN 11-1 the rest of the game to win 72-57. 

O'Malley led the RedHawks with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while Boles led the scoring with 16 points. Smolen had a near double-double for IUN with nine points and 10 rebounds.

IUN returns to action Tuesday, November 26 as the RedHawks take on rival Calumet College of St. Joseph starting at 5:30 p.m. CT at the Savannah Center.