SOUTH HOLLAND | The Lady Sting are finding the right time to get hot.
While preparing for next week's regional playoffs, Seton Academy extended their win streak to nine games with a hard fought 57-52 victory over Girls Catholic Athletic Conference rival St. Francis de Sales. Seton's Ebony Bailey scored 27 points and brought down 12 rebounds in the win. Bailey also added five assists on the night. Lady Sting forward Desiree Jackson added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Seton.
"On offense we were making our shots and passing the ball," Bailey said. "Our defense is working too. Without defense, we don't win games. The offense picks up right after that and as long as we're talking and boxing out, we've got the game."
Seton Academy (19-8, 8-1) took a three point lead into the final quarter. St. Francis de Sales was held to nine points in the fourth quarter and struggled to get the offense going against the second half zone defense of Seton. Despite a size disadvantage, the Lady Pioneers were able to out-rebound Seton 45-41 in the game.
"We really beat ourselves," Pioneer coach Terrence Streater said. "We missed a lot of layups, we missed free throws down the stretch, and a couple key turnovers at the wrong time. Foul trouble played a part of it too. Overall, we played pretty good. It's a big rivalry game, and it was going to be a good game. We just lost our focus a little bit."
St. Francis de Sales (10-12, 8-4) was led by freshman Sharese Scott who finished the game with 17 points, including four three pointers. Senior Isis Mance added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Pioneers.
The win moves Seton into the GCAC tournament title game which will be played Saturday night at Trinity College. Seton Academy head coach Kevin Green is seeing his team handle adversity much better than the Lady Sting were earlier in the season.
"It was a real good game," Green said. "We didn't play our best game, but they stepped up and played strong til the end. I can tell my team has changed because at the beginning of the year, if somebody hit us with something, we would just roll over and die. Now, they hit us, and we hit people back."
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