Grace College Athletics recently issued the following announcement.
Grace’s season ends at NCCAAs
Grace's women's basketball team wrapped up the 2021-22 season on Friday night at the NCCAA National Championships.
The Lady Lancers (20-16) finished in sixth place after falling 65-56 to top-seeded College of the Ozarks in the fifth-place game.
The Lady Lancers' outstanding season saw them reach the 20-win plateau for just the third time in program history.
Karlee Feldman was the leading force for Grace, double-doubling with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It marked Feldman's 22nd double-double of the season, eight more than the next closest in single-season program history.
Feldman scored the Lady Lancers' first nine points of the matchup, but the Bobcats' efficient offense helped them build a 15-9 lead.
Grace rattled off six quick points when Maddie Ryman and Peyton Murphy both hit from 3-point land to tie the game at 15. Ozarks scored late to take a 19-17 lead as the game entered the second quarter.
Kiersten Poor tied the game after a frenzy of turnovers, and Feldman put Grace in the lead with a relentless effort in the paint.
Murphy pushed Grace's lead to 30-25 after Ryman started the fastbreak with a nifty defensive steal.
Ryman hit a trifecta later in the quarter to push the Lady Lancers lead to as many as seven. The Bobcats ended the half on a run to send the game to half with both squads sitting on 33 points.
The Lady Lancers and the Bobcats shot efficiently in the first half. Grace was 45 percent from the floor, and CofO was 50 percent.
The Lady Lancers held a narrow 37-35 advantage early in the third quarter after Feldman knocked down a pair of free throws.
Much of the third quarter was hotly contested with neither team holding a lead greater than three points until late in the frame.
The Bobcats led 48-43 with just over a minute remaining. A Feldman layup and a Karissa Lukasiewicz jumper sent Grace into the final 10 minutes down just a single point.
In the fourth, Maddie Ryman hit a contested 3-point shot that tied the game at 52 with 8:52 remaining. It would be the last time that Grace would match CofO's score.
Both teams struggled mightily from the field over the next six-minutes, but it was the Bobcats who emerged with a six-point lead with 90 seconds remaining.
The Lady Lancers got off a couple of looks from beyond the arc but were unable to find a comeback, falling 65-56.
Grace's lone senior, Olivia Pearson, checked in and was acknowledged by her team and the crowd at the conclusion of the game.
"I always say at the end of the season that the last game doesn't define the overall body of work," said Grace head coach Dan Davis. "Big picture, we went from 14 wins last season to reaching 20 wins for just the third time in 42 years. I'm so proud of the work that our players and our coaching staff put in this season. The future is bright."
Feldman (20 points) led Grace in scoring, followed by Ryman and Poor with 11 points apiece. Ryman added four rebounds and five assists.
Peyton Murphy finished with 7 points, 6 boards and 2 assists.
Grace shot 38 percent from the floor compared to 41 percent for the Bobcats. In the fourth quarter, Grace made just 3 of 17 (18 percent) from the floor and 1 of 9 (11 percent) on 3-pointers.
Original source can be found here.
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