Mazza guides St. Francis past St. Edward

Mia Mazza has had to take on more ballhandling responsibilities after St. Francis lost two point guards to ACL injuries. But it was her defensive prowess Monday that was the difference against St. Edward in the quarterfinals of the Lisle Holiday Cage Classic .

Mazza, a 5-foot-8 junior, converted three steals into layups in a span of 30 seconds of the first quarter to help turn an early 4-2 deficit into an 11-5 lead and power St. Francis to a 65-56 victory over the Green Wave.

St. Francis (7-3) will face top-seeded Antioch (14-0) in a 6:30 p.m. semifinal Tuesday.

Mazza finished with 26 points - including a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer that gave the Spartans a 57-37 lead - 5 steals, 2 blocked shots and 4 rebounds. Four of her steals led to breakaway layups.

"I want to try to come out with some fire," Mazza said. "I knew St. Edward had some quick guards, so if you can steals from them in the beginning it's going to send a great message that we can keep with these guards and we can keep with their pace."

St. Francis led by as many as 15 points in the second quarter and extended the lead to 20 points at the end of three quarters. But St. Edward (8-3) scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter and at one point outscored the Spartans 15-2 to close within 59-52 with 1:55 remaining.

"We're not really used to being in the lead so we have to acclimate to it," Mazza said. "We're a young team. We have a lot of young kids on the team, so as we grow and the more games we play we're going to get used to being in the lead and keeping the lead.

"Repetition and mental toughness are what we need to get," she added.

Five-foot-4 junior guard Madelyn Spagnola led St. Edward with 23 points, Katelyn Castoro added 13 and sophomore Mariel Franco had 6 points off the bench.

"The girls never stopped fighting," St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson. "They kept themselves in it. St. Francis is just a tough team to handle. They can hurt you in so many ways, from the outside and the inside. But I'm proud of my girls and how hard they worked tonight."

Five-foot-10 sophomore Antwainette Walker had 13 points and 9 rebounds for St. Francis, which also got 10 points from Sloane Baumgartner.