Caitlyn Thole made two free throws with 35.2 seconds left to lift St. Ambrose to a 68-66 win at St. Francis in a quarterfinal game of the CCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Tuesday night.

The Bees will now play a semifinal game at Indiana South Bend Thursday.

SAU entered the postseason tournament as the No. 7 seed and stunned a USF team, which handed the Bees a 29-point loss during the regular season.

But Tuesday night, the No. 2-seeded Saints never led by more than eight points. And it was a scrappy defensive effort that carried the Bees to victory.

With St. Ambrose trailing 66-63 inside the final minute, Jayla Stirgus kept it herself and got to the rim, scoring the layup and drawing a foul. Her ensuing free throw tied the game at 66-66.

The Bees, which held the Saints without a field goal over the final two minutes, forced a tough shot and Thole came away with the rebound. She went coast to coast and got fouled, leading to her two go-ahead free throws.

St. Francis (25-4) had multiple opportunities in the final seconds, but St. Ambrose (15-14) was up for every challenge.

First, Erin Jolin contested a USF layup to force the miss. A tie-up on the rebound gave the ball back to the Saints. A 3-pointer for the lead was off the mark and Thole pulled down the board. But following a pair of timeouts, SAU was whistled for a five-second call, giving the ball back to St. Francis with 11.3 seconds remaining.

Jolin and Isabella Hutchinson challenged a layup that bounced off the glass but into the hands of another Saints player who drew a foul on the putback.

But with 2.1 seconds left, USF missed the first of two free throws. Forced to miss the second intentionally, the Saints watched Thole muscle the ball away on the rebound as time expired.

The Bees limited the Saints to less than 40 percent shooting from the field and forced 20 turnovers, six of those coming in the final quarter.

This was the first CCAC Tournament win for St. Ambrose since earning a first-round win at the end of the 2020-21 season. The Bees will make their first appearance in the semifinals since 2015-16, when SAU picked up wins at Cardinal Stritch and at St. Francis to ultimately reach the championship game.

Abby Wolter led SAU with 21 points. She also recorded five rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Thole finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Stirgus added 14 points and four rebounds.

Hutchinson and Olivia Harter each scored five points. Jolin netted four and Payton Calouette dropped in three.

The semifinal game at Indiana South Bend will tip off at 6 p.m. CST.