Joliet, Illinois - The IU Northwest RedHawks (7-1, 4-0 CCAC) traveled to Joliet, IL to do battle with the 23rd Ranked St. Francis Fighting Saints on Wednesday night.

The RedHawks scoring began after Karli Miller stole the ball away from the Saints with Michaela Schmidt finding Tiara Jackson alone under the basket. The Saints went back down the court and scored before Sarah Martin was found on the free throw extended for a three pointer.  Tiara Jackson scored again for the RedHawks to put them ahead 7-2. Saint Francis hit another shot and Makayla Best then found Martin on the opposite free throw extended for another 3. A Kayla Sirjord three pointer caused Saint Francis to take their first timeout of the game. Michaela Schmidt scored a left handed layup out of the timeout to put the RedHawks up 15-4. Three RedHawk turnovers brought the Saints back to lead by a score of 16-15, a 12-0 run, with 1:40 remaining in the quarter. Michaela Schmidt was fouled on a drive and went to the free throw line and hit both shots to take the lead again 17-16. A runner as time expired for the Saints put them back on top to end the quarter 18-17.

Sarah Martin started the second quarter scoring with a pull up jumper. The Saints got back-to-back makes before Alyna Santiago hit a 3 pointer for the RedHawks to pull the score down to 23-22. Karli Miller added a basket to put the RedHawks back ahead 24-23. Sarah Martin broke into double figures scoring with another pull up jumper for the RedHawks. A Samantha Martin block led to a Karli Miller three pointer to stretch the lead to 29-23. A basket by the Saints set up another Karli Miller three for the RedHawks. St. Francis went on a 7-3 run to end the quarter with the RedHawks taking a 35-32 lead into the locker room.

The RedHawks came out of halftime on a 10-0 run. Back-to-back Michaela Schmidt layups and Samantha Martin worked some post moves and scored a turn around jumper. Emma Schmidt then hit a 3 pointer for the RedHawks. Tiara Jackson hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line after being fouled on a putback off a RedHawk miss and Jackson scored a layup off of a Katelyn Halfacre assist. With 2:53 left of the 3rd Quarter, the Saints finally hit on a three point shot.  Makayla Best ran down the floor and layed the ball up for her first points of the night. Jackson scored again on a rebound and putback and Michaela Schmidt adding a three pointer to stretch the IU Northwest lead to 54-40 with 1 minute remaining in the quarter. Karli Miller connected with Jackson again for another basket for the RedHawks and a Karli Miller steal and shot was just late as the buzzer sounded with IU Northwest leading 56-42 heading into the final stanza. 

The Saints started the 4th Quarter on a 7-0 run. Karli Miller was fouled on a drive and sank both free throws and got a steal when the ball got down the court and was fouled again on a drive.  She again, added both free throws to push the lead to 60-49. After a couple of minutes of scoreless basketball, the RedHawks found Tiara Jackson as the shot clock was expiring on a curl and she made a layup. Sarah Martin hit a 3 pointer with 2:45 remaining to keep the RedHawks up by 12 (65-53). With the Saints pressing, Sarah Martin snuck through to be wide open under the basket and converted on a layup to put the RedHawks up 67-59. Sarah Martin then was fouled and put both free throws through the net. Emma Schmidt and Karli Miller were both fouled and they both went 1-for-2 from the line. The RedHawks finished the game on an 8-1 run winning the game 75-60.

Tiara Jackson led the RedHawks in scoring with 18 points and added another double-double with 12 rebounds. Jackson leads the CCAC in rebounds per game (12.3) and is ranked 6th in the country in the same statistic. Karli Miller added a double-double of her own with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Miller went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe and also hit two of three threes she shot.  Sarah Martin scored 17 points of her own and went 3-for-5 from 3 point range. Michaela Schmidt rounded out the RedHawks in double figures with 11 points.

NEXT UP: The RedHawks travel to Bourbonnais, IL to do battle with Olivet Nazarene University on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip.