South Bend, Ind. - Grace College's women's basketball team used an impressives 27-point third quarter to beat Holy Cross 72-66 on Wednesday night.

The Lancers (4-5) were led offensively by a 22-point performance by Maddie Ryman. Ryman now sits just 50 points shy of breaking the program's all-time scoring record (1,981

The start of the game was a defensive battle as neither team could find any offensive consistency.

Kaylee Patton opened the scoring for the Lancers and Ryman added a bucket and the free throw, but Grace was held to just those five points through the first eight minutes of play.

Trailing 11-5 late in the opening quarter, Grace went on a mini run to close out the period as Peyton Murphy added a pair of free throws and Morganne Houk connected on a trifecta to pull Grace within a point as the game entered the second quarter.

The Saints made a 3-point basket to start the second quarter, but the Lancers defense tightened up as they held Holy Cross scoreless over the next four minutes of play.

The Lancers used the Saints' scoring drought to go on an 8-0 run and pushed ahead to an 18-14 lead. The Lancers used the charity stripe to their advantage during the run going an impressive 6-6 from the line.

Holy Cross recaptured the lead two-possession later and with 3 minutes left held a narrow 24-23 lead.

In her second game back after returning from injury Kate Rulli made her presence felt, scoring from the paint on consecutive possessions to give Grace a 27-24 lead as the game entered the halftime intermission. 

The Lancers led at the half despite shooting 25 percent compared to the Saints' 38 percent. Grace's lead was in part due to forcing Holy Cross into 14 turnovers which the lancers turned into 11 points. The Saints had just two points off turnovers.

Ryman scored eight points and Murphy grabbed nine rebounds in the first half.

As the second got underway, the Lancers began to flex their muscles.

Patton again got Grace's offense started with the second half's opening bucket and on the next possession Houk connected from beyond the arc for her second 3-point basket of the game.

The Saints tried the battle back from eight points down, but a pair of scores from Patton kept the Holy Cross rally at bay.

With three minutes left in the third quarter, a Murphy free throw pushed Grace's lead to nine points, but a pair of quick buckets in succession from Holy Cross cut the lead back down to four.

The Lancers again found success from the free throw line in the final minutes of the quarter as Grace went a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe in the 1:59 of the third to push the lead back to nine points. A buzzer beater from Patton saw the Lancers carry a 54-43 lead into the final quarter.

An early 3-point bucket for Holy Cross seemed to set the tone for what would be a hard fought final quarter.

The Saints clawed back within 54-50 as the Lancers offense was held scoreless through the first three minutes of the quarter.

Rulli ended the Lancer drought but Holy Cross continued their push to draw even and with 5:43 left, the Saintshad pulled to within two points.

As they had throughout the night, Grace earned their way to the free throw line as Patton and Ryman converted on consecutive trips to the charity stripes to push the Lancers lead 60-54.

With 2:11 left in the game, Ryman found her stroke from range hitting a 3-point basket that gave the Lancers a seven-point cushion.

The Saints had a four-point possession that put them back with three points, but the Grace advantage jumped back to six points as Molly Long connected on a corner three as her release just beat the shot clock.

"I Love how gritty this team is," said Grace head coach Dan Davis. "We took some lumps early, but these ladies refused to go away. We are starting to find out who we are as a team and I am so excited about the direction we are headed."
Ryman and Patton each scored in the final minute as Grace iced the game away, holding on for the 72-66 victory.

Grace finished the game shooting 42 percent from the floor and 36 percent from beyond the arc. The Lancers also connected on 22-28 of the attempts from the free throw line.

Along with her game high 22 points, Ryman also grabbed five rebounds and added a pair of steals. Patton was efficient from the floor scoring 16 points on 50 percent shooting.

Houk scored 10 points and Murphy narrowly missed a double double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Lancers will now travel west for a pair of games in Montana, which includes a showdown with No. 6 Carroll.