St. Ambrose hosted the conference leader, Governors State (19-4, 13-2 CCAC), yesterday evening in Lee Lohman Arena and suffered a 72-51 loss to the Jaguars. The Bees played the Jaguars evenly through the halftime break and trailed by three, but a big 24-point third quarter by GSU proved to be the decision of the contest. SAU was hurt from beyond the arc as they only shot just over 14% from the three-point line (2-14). This loss drops St. Ambrose to 8-14 overall and 6-9 in conference play. 

A 3-pointer by Payton Calouette as the shot clock was expiring had the Bees on the board first. They took this momentum and paced the leaders of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) early in the contest. The Bees and Jaguars exchanged scores, but SAU stayed ahead of GSU due to two clutch free throws by Erica Bostwick and a late Caitlyn Thole layup. This led the Bees to a 19-15 opening quarter.

The Bees struggled to get 3-pointers to fall all evening and the second quarter was no different. Governors State took advantage of the missed three-point opportunities of St. Ambrose. The Jaguars connected on three three-point opportunities in this quarter as the Bees went 0-3 from beyond the arc. Calouette was the only St. Ambrose player to score on a three-point attempt all evening as she sank two 3-pointers.

Thole did capitalize in the paint as she scored two layups before the eight minute mark of the period to give the Bees a close 23-19 lead. Abby Wolter connected on a jump shot at the 6:53 mark, but GSU sank a 3-pointer and jumper to force a SAU timeout. During this period, St. Ambrose went over four minutes without a bucket. 

Thole and Calouette each scored from the field to get the Bees back within striking distance before the break. SAU trailed 31-34 as they headed into halftime. 

Again, it was Calouette to score from beyond the arc for the Bees as she sank her second 3-pointer of the evening right out the break. The Jaguars connected on three straight 3-pointers to force a SAU timeout at the 7:26 mark.

Wolter, then, netted a layup at the 6:57 mark in the third quarter, but St. Ambrose never got any closer throughout the stretch of the contest as the Bees only trailed by six points. Governors State slowly grew their lead throughout the remainder of the period to lead 58-43 as 20 seconds remained on the clock. Wolter netted two from the charity stripe with three seconds on the clock to fill the gap for St. Ambrose.

It was a slow final period for SAU. Only three Bees scored for St. Ambrose in this period (Calouette, Wolter, and Mary Gruber). It took the Bees just short of four minutes to score a bucket and then their offense stalled for over another two minutes. Calouette and Gruber connected on one free throw each to end the contest for the Bees at 51-72. 

SAU forced the Jaguars to turn the ball over 15 times in the contest, but the Bees were unable to convert those into scores compared to the Jaguars who scored 16 points off 14 Bee turnovers. St. Ambrose shot just over 60% from the charity stripe in the loss.

Wolter led the offense for SAU with 17 points as Calouette trailed right behind with 15 points. Thole netted 11 and was a board short of a double-double with nine rebounds. 

Wolter grabbed six boards and Olivia Harter collected three on top of her four points.

Calouette and Harter each came away with two steals and a block.

The Bees look to grab a conference win as they host Indiana-South Bend this Sat. in Lee Lohman Arena. Tip is set for 1 p.m. CST.