MOUNT VERNON, Ohio – Grace College's women's basketball team fell to Mt. Vernon Nazarene 87-58 on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday's contest marked the first of four straight against Crossroads League opponents. The next game is at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against No. 10 Marian.

The Lady Lancers (5-2, 0-1 CL) started the game with intensity and pushed the tempo against the No. 23-ranked Cougars. Karlee Feldman scored the first six points as Grace built a 6-0 lead.

MVNU (6-2, 1-0 CL) answered the Grace run with a 12-2 run of their own to quickly take the lead back.

A three-point shot from Maddie Ryman vaulted the Lady Lancers back in front, but the Cougars used another run to take a 20-14 lead into the second quarter.

Woeful shooting undid Grace's intentions in the second quarter, flipping momentum entirely to the Cougars in the game.

MVNU started the second frame with a 17-0 run. Five minutes elapsed in the quarter before Grace scored its first point. 

The Lady Lancers made just one of their 17 shots during the quarter (5.9 percent), including 0 for 8 on 3-pointers. As a result, Grace trailed 43-20 at halftime.

The Lady Lancers were outscored 23-6 in the second quarter. For the half, Grace shot 20 percent in the first half and was outrebounded 28-21.

Ryman and Peyton Murphy helped Grace eat into the deficit, scoring the first seven points of the second half.

Following baskets by Feldman and Kiersten Poor, the Lady Lancers had nearly cut the lead in half midway through the third quarter.

MVNU responded to Grace's comeback by hitting its next six attempts from the field to end the quarter with a 66-44 lead. 

The Cougars' third-quarter run seemed to halt any chance that Grace had of mounting a comeback as they held on to win 87-58.

"We took one on the chin today. The second quarter put us in a big hole. Against a quality team like MVNU, it's hard to recover from that," said Grace head coach Dan Davis. "We have a long season ahead, and we have a lot of basketball ahead of us. It's all about getting better and refocusing on Monday."

For the game, Grace shot 31 percent from the field, 17 percent from the perimeter and 70 percent from the charity stripe. 

Feldman double-doubled again with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Ryman also had 15 points.

Poor added 12 points, and Kenzie McMahon was a force in the paint with 11 boards.