NC Indiana News

Grace falls short in upset bid

Grace's women's basketball came up just short in their bid to upset No. 4 Carroll, falling 71-57 on Wednesday night.

The Lady Lancers went blow-for-blow with the Fighting Saints and held a three-point lead at the half. It wasn't enough though as Carroll shot an even 50 percent from the field after halftime to come away with the victory.

"That was a really good team that we played tonight," said Grace head coach Dan Davis. There is a reason that they are ranked as high as they are. Proud of how tough our girls played."

Both teams played aggressive lockdown defense early, as the two teams managed just one field goal apiece through the first four minutes of play.

The Lady Lancers captured their biggest lead of the quarter after Jenna Blakey and Molly Long converted on back-to-back possession to push Grace ahead 11-6.

The Saints answered back however, and a 10-0 run helped give them a 16-13 lead as the game entered the second quarter.

Karlee Feldman knocked in an early free throw and Kenzie McMahon scored her first points of the season as Grace tried to close the deficit.

After falling behind by six-points, Feldman began to assert her dominance. Feldman scored seven straight points as the Lady Lancers vaulted back into the lead.

Kate Rulli added a pair of free throws late and Grace held a 35-32 halftime lead over the No. 4 team in the country.

Grace shot 48 percent from the field and Feldman led Grace with 10 first half points. The Lady Lancers forced the Saints into six turnovers, while only giving up four of their own.

Kaylee Patton scored an early second half bucket for Grace, but it stood alone for the Lady Lancers through the first five minutes of the third quarter. During that stretch The Lady Lancers committed four turnovers which fueled Carroll to a 21-point frame.

Peyton Murphy added a late bucket to cut the lead down to two, but the Saints were a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold a narrow 53-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the 10 minutes, the Lady Lancers hung tough but were unable to overcome Carroll's hot shooting as they fell by a final score of 71-57.

"The difference in the game was our second half turnovers," Davis said. "We had some self-inflicted mistakes and hats off to Carroll for taking advantage."

Grace turned the ball over 15 times which led to 14 points for Carroll. The Lady Lancers shot 43 percent from the floor and 11 percent from beyond the arc compared to 45 and 37 percent from the Saints.

Blakley led all scorers with a game high of 13 points. Feldman narrowly missed her third double double of the season with 12 points and eight rebounds. Maddie Ryman scored eight points,

"There was so much good to take from this game," Davis added. "We wanted to play this game against the No. 4 team in the country so that our ladies know what they are capable of. The maturity that they showed tonight was night and day from last year. Our goal is to win the game or win the lesson and tonight I think our girls have a lot that they can take away from this game."

The Lady Lancers will be in action again on Saturday as they play Asbury at 1 p.m. in the Val Weinstein Classic.

Original source can be found here.