WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College's women's basketball team dropped a high scoring contest to Olivet Nazarene on Friday night.

The Lancers (2-1) fell 97-81 to the Tigers in the opening game of the Val Weinstein Classic.

Grace battled hard throughout the contest, but was undone by a hot shooting Olivet squad that hit on 42 percent of their 3-point shot attempts.

The Tigers came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as they quickly built a 13-2 lead. During the 6:41 stretch to open the game Olivet went 5-8 from the field including a pair a shots from beyond the arc.

A trifecta from Maddie Ryman stopped the Tigers' run and her steal and score on the ensuing possession seemed to settle Grace into the contest.

The Lancers captured the lead late in the quartet at 23-21 after a 12-2 run of their own, but back-to-back 3-point field goals and a late two-point basket from the Tigers saw Olivet carry a 29-23 lead into the quarter break.

At the end of one, both teams were shooting at 50 percent clip or better.

Grace and Olivet traded scores early in the second quarter, but then both squads struggled mightily from the offensive end. A total of 15 possessions passed without a made basket. The stretch was finally ended by a fastbreak score from Maddie Ryman.

The Lancers pulled back within three points after a shot from range from Brooke Blaszczyk, but once again the Tigers had an answer for Grace's run.

After finding success from beyond the arc, the Tigers extended their lead back to double digits. A late free throw from Maddie Ryman saw Grace enter the intermission down nine.

The statsheet was nearly even across the board at the half with the Tigers hitting on 48 percent of their shots compared to the Lancers' 41 percent.

Bekah Marshal hit a 3-point shot on Grace's first possession of the half but Grace was unable to match Olivet's firepower. The Tigers hit on 57 percent of the shots in the third quarter, including 4-8 from beyond the arc.

Olivet's lead reached as many as 15 points in the quarter but a pair of buckets from Maddie Ryman had Grace down 11 entering the fourth quarter.

Grace came out strong in the final stanza and after a pair of free throws from Marshall had cut the deficit down to six points.

The Lancers couldn't get any closer though as they went scoreless on five of their next six possessions, which included three missed free throws.

The stretch allowed the Tigers to build their lead back up to 13-points, a margin Grace was unable to threaten, as they ultimately fell 97-81.

"That was a hard fought game," said Grace head coach Dan Davis "We had a great crowd that came out to support us and the energy throughout the game made this a really fun game to be a part of."

Grace finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field, 26 percent from beyond the arc and 60 percent from the charity stripe. Olivet shot 48 percent, 41 percent and 91 percent in the same categories

Maddie Ryman led all players with 30 points. Morganne Houk was second on the team with 12 points. Blaszczyk and Marshall both chipped in 10 points."From a basketball standpoint, there are definitely some things that we can learn from this, Davis added. "We have to do a better job of closing out games when we have chances like we did in the fourth quarter. Really proud of Brooke and Bekah for stepping up as we continue to develop our depth."

Grace closes out the Val Weinstein Classic tomorrow at 2 p.m. against #RV IU Northwest.