Huntington, Ind. - Grace's women's basketball has matched its best conference start in program history after dispatching Huntington 86-65 on Saturday afternoon.

Grace (14-5. 7-2 Crossroads League) dominated in the middle quarters, outscoring the Foresters 54-21 during that stretch, to pick up their seventh victory Crossroads League of the season. The Lady Lancers are in third place in the conference standings and sit just one game out of first place.

Things got off to a slow start for the Lady Lancers as they were plagued by turnovers in the first quarter as Huntington raced out to a 7-0 lead.

The Lady Lancers also struggled from the field, missing their first five tries, which allowed the Foresters to build their lead to 12-0 just 4:19 into the game.

Maddie Ryman finally broke Grace's drought, scoring four points in quick succession. Karlee Feldman added a layup as Grace cut the 12-point deficit in half.

Huntington continued to use aggressive defense to spark their offense as they forced Grace into 10 first quarter turnovers and took an 18-10 lead into the first break.

Molly Long started the second frame with a trifecta as Grace attempted to overcome the eight-point deficit.

Grace's defense kept Huntington off the board for the first five minutes of the quarter and the offense responded in kind.

A 10-0 run was capped by a Kiersten Findley 3-point shot as Grace claimed their first lead of the contest at 20-18.

The Foresters briefly reclaimed the lead following a trifecta of their own, but Grace would not be slowed.

Findley scored six straight points as Grace ended the half on a 14-2 run to carry a 35-23 lead into the halftime intermission.

Grace finished the first half shooting 48 percent from the floor, compared to Huntington's 31 percent. The teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half.

Grace continued to roll in the second half as Feldman got things started with a shot in the paint.

Findley continued to solve the Foresters' defense with ease, scoring on back-to-back possessions to build the lead to 19 points.

Grace's lead reached 23 points after Feldman again scored from the painted area.

Grace went two-for-one to end the quarter and Ryman converted on both trips down the floor to send the Lady Lancers into the fourth quarter with a 64-39 lead.

Grace head coach Dan Davis emptied his bench in the final quarter as the Lady Lancers finished off the 86-65 victory.

"Got to give credit to Huntington for coming out ready to play," said Davis. "We forced some plays in the first quarter and were sloppy with the ball which put us in the early hole. I thought about halfway through that quarter we started to settle down and started guarding really well and really dominated the second and third quarter. We need to clean up our turnovers and make sure that we maintain our intensity until the final whistle."

Findley and Feldman both finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Ryman finished close behind with 15 points of her own.

Peyton Murphy nabbed four steals and Kensie Ryman contributed nine points off the bench.

Grace held a dominant 52-24 edge in points scored in the paint, and finished the game with an eye-popping 58 shooting percentage.

Grace will take the court again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. A week after defeating Bethel 84-56 at home, the Lady Lancers will travel to Mishawaka to once again take on the Pilots.