Shawnee State's rebounding woes against the University of St. Francis on Saturday have left the Bears hoping to rebound from a 16-point loss.

The Bears led only twice while being out rebounded 57-30 in a 68-52 loss to the Cougars at the James A. Rhodes Athletic Center in the final game of the Wendy's/Buffalo Wild Wings Classic.

Shawnee State led 6-5 early in the first half and didn't lead again until 8:47 in the second half as the Cougars' inside presence was dominant.

The Bears had no answer for 6-foot-1 forward Marie Kaufman. Kaufman scored 22 points with eight rebounds while providing an answer to every run Shawnee State made. No Cougar had double-digits in rebounds, despite the large disparity over the Bears.

On Friday, SSU out rebounded Notre Dame College 63-38.

“It's just amazing how we can be so good the night before in that category and then really stink it up,” Shawnee State coach Robin Hagen-Smith said. “They were just so much more physical and aggressive. They did a good job of pushing us underneath and we got too deep to where we couldn't get position. That was the difference.”

St. Francis, ranked third in the NAIA Division II poll squandered several leads but was able to hold on. The Bears trailed 40-29 in the second half when Karen Diehl got momentum back on SSU's side. Diehl scored seven points during a 9-0 Bears' run to climb within two and minutes later a Mallory Albers 3 gave the Bears their last lead of the game. Diehl led the Bears with 13 points, all in the second half. Kelly Wagner scored 11 points and Mallory Albers contributed 11 points in the loss.

A series of offensive rebounds by St. Francis and a 3 by the Cougars' Toni Burney would make the lead short lived. Burney hit three more threes down the stretch to seal the game as SSU failed to score in the final 3:56.

“They got three offensive rebounds and they stuck a 3 in,” said Hagen-Smith. “That was devastating. Then she turned around and hit another 3 and we had a hand up contesting.”

The game was a rematch of the 1999 National Championship game that SSU won 80-65. This season, St. Francis is one of the contenders for the National Title and the Cougars' coach said SSU could me in the mix as well.

The Cougars have defeated four Top 25 teams so far according to the Cougars' Web site.

“We've played as tough a schedule as anybody,” St. Francis coach Gary Andrews said. “I think Shawnee State deserves to be ranked higher than they are. We saw them (Friday) and we've seen them on tape. They're definitely a top ten team. This game was a lot closer than the score indicated.”

On a positive note for Shawnee State, Becky Babione's third block of the game made her the school's all-time leader in blocked shots for a career with 128, surpassing Erica Hayes who had 127 from 1994-1999. Babione, who scored eight points in the loss, is also SSU's all-time leader for most blocks in a game (nine) and is tied for most blocks in a season (64).

In the earlier game, Campbellsville defeated Notre Dame 94-58. Alexia Williams scored 16 to lead the Tigers and Wendi Messer and Courtney Dannnis each scored 13 in the win.

St. Francis came out of the Wendy's/Buffalo Wild Wings Classic on top with wins over Campbellsville and SSU to finish 2-0. Shawnee State and Campbellsville were second at 1-1 each with wins over Notre Dame, which finished 0-2.

JOHN STEGEMAN can be reached at jstegeman02@hotmail.com.

St. Francis 31 37 - 68

Shawnee State 25 27 - 52

St. Francis - Hathaway 2 0 6, Burney 9 0 23, Seiss 2 4 8, Dice 1 0 2, Kaufman 9 4 22, Dawson 0 2 2, Banks 0 2 2, Richards 1 1 3. Totals 24 13 68.

Shawnee State - Wagner 5 0 11, Babione 3 0 8, Grandy 1 0 3, Meyer 1 0 2, Leasure 1 0 3, Bankston 1 0 2, Albers 4 0 10, Diehl 5 2 13. Totals 21 2 52.

3-pointers - St. Francis 7 (Hathaway 2, Burney 5); Shawnee State 8 (Albers 2, Babione 2, Wagner, Grandy, Leasure, Diehl).

Records - St. Francis 14-1; Shawnee State 11-2.

Friday night

Notre Dame 34 26 - 60

Shawnee State 47 43 - 90

Notre Dame - Baker 11 0 28, Carney 3 1 8, Brown 4 6 14, McLeod 0 5 5, Andrusky 0 2 2, Hill 1 1 3. Totals 19 15 60.

Shawne State - Wagner 1 3 5, Babione 7 4 21, Grandy 6 0 15, Meyer 4 3 11, Leasure 2 0 6, Bankston 2 2 6, Williams 2 0 6, Albers 2 0 5, Markins 1 0 3, Diehl 3 0 6. Totals 31 16 90.

3-pointers - Notre Dame 7 (Baker 6, Carney); Shawnee State 12 (Babione 3, Grandy 3, Leasure 2, Williams 2, Albers, Markins).

Records - Notre Dame 8-3; Shawnee State 11-1.