CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women's basketball team saw its run in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament come to an end with Saturday's 104-72 loss to No. 3-ranked and two-seed St. Xavier University Saturday in the tournament semifinals. 

PNW senior Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) led the Pride with a game-high 32 points and classmate Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 16 points and seven boards in the loss. 

The Pride (24-8) trailed 34-13 after one quarter and 53-28 at the half, as the host Cougars (29-2) shot a blistering 65.0 percent (20-of-35) from the field in the first half, while holding PNW to just 31.3 percent (10-of-31) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars didn't slow in the second half, outscoring PNW 29-24 in the third and 22-20 in the final frame to seal a convincing win. 

St. Xavier advances to Tuesday's CCAC Championship game, where it will face No. 1 and unbeaten St. Francis (Ill) (31-0), a 53-50 winner over Cardinal Stritch in Saturday's other semifinal. Since both St. Francis and St. Xavier clinched the North and South Division titles to already earn automatic berths to the NAIA Division II National Tournament, PNW, the third seed, gains the third automatic bid for the 15-team CCAC to reach its fourth national tournament in five seasons. 

The entire field for the national tournament will be released with the NAIA Selection Show, set for Wednesday, March 1. The 32-team and 26th annual NAIA Division II National Championship will take place March 8-13 in Sioux City, Iowa, at the Tyson Events Center. 

PNW finished the game shooting 39.7 percent (25-of-63) from the field compared to 55.1 percent (38-of-69) for SXU, and the Cougars won the rebounding battle, 43-30. 

Kara Krolicki led SXU with 24 points and Maddie Welter added 19 points, while Brittany Collins pumped in a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards in the win. 

PNW sophomore Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) chipped in seven points off the bench and Katie Wampler (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) added six points in the effort.