NC Indiana News

Lancers comeback falls short

Grace's women's basketball team dropped a Thursday night contest to St. Xavier 89-81.

The Lady Lancers played strong in the bookend quarters, but were thwarted by the middle stanzas where they were outscored 61-34

Feldman started the game off strong, scoring Grace's (9-3, 5-0 Crossroads League) first four points.

The Lady Lancers and the Cougars (8-5) were neck-and-neck through the middle portions of the quarter until Jenna Blakley checked in and had a pair of 3-point plays to bolster Grace's advantage.

Maddie Ryman got a shot to fall after a physical drive to the hoop that sent the game to the quarter break with Grace ahead 19-12.

SXU connected on a pair of shots from beyond the arc to start the quarter that sparked a Cougars' run.

After going nearly four minutes without a score, Peyton Murphy ended the Lady Lancers' scoring drought. After an and-1 play from Ryman, Grace trailed 33-29 with 3:25 left in the half.

The Cougars defense created numerous fast break opportunities, as their offense came alive to end the half.

The Cougars built up a 46-35 lead by the intermission.

Grace shot 42 percent from the floor in the first half, but were undone with 12 turnovers that SXU took advantage of to a tune of 16 points. Ryman led Grace with eight first half points.

In the second half Kiersten Findley hit an early 3-point shot and Feldman converted on the next possession to pull Grace within 4-points.

The Cougars weathered the early barrage and soon began to connect with regularity from range. By the midpoint of the third quarter SXU led 58-46.

Kaylee Patton made a pair of shots from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 10, but back-to-back 3-point shots from the Cougars had Grace down 16-points.

After the fourth 3-point shot of the quarter fell for SXU, Grace entered the final frame down 73-53.

The Lady Lancers continued to show grit down the stretch and after a Patton 3-point play had battled back within 10 points with five-minutes left in regulation.

A Feldman free-throw cut the Grace deficit to single digits, 80-71, with 4:23 left.

SXU built the lead back to 15, but Grace refused to go away, once again pulling within single digits.

The furious comeback attempt ran out of steam though as Grace dropped its third game of the season 89-81

"This game was really the tale of two quarters," said Grace head coach Dan Davis. "I like the urgency that we played with in the first and fourth quarters, but unforced turnovers in the second gave them momentum, and credit them for taking advantage. Tough loss, but this game doesn't define us, it will mold us and make us better for the stretch run. We have a lot of ball left and look forward to getting back at it on Tuesday."

Ryman led all players with 29 points and Feldman double-doubled with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Patton and Findley both cracked double digit points.

Grace turned the ball over 17 times compared to SXU's 13. The Lady Lancers hit on 41 percent of their attempts and 28 percent from range.

Grace will return home for one more game before the Christmas break. The Lady Lancers will host IU Kokomo on Tuesday at 12 p.m. 

Original source can be found here.