HUNTINGTON, Ind. - Grace College's women's basketball team fell to the Huntington Foresters 79-65 on Wednesday night.

The Lancers (9-7, 2-4 Crossroads League) were outscored by 12 points in the first quarter and were unable to overcome the early deficit despite playing the Foresters nearly even the rest of the way.

"I was disappointed with the way we started the game," Grace head coach Dan Davis commented. "You can't dig yourself into a hole that big, especially on the road, and not expect it to cost you. We have struggled to be ready to play at the beginning of games this year and it was the difference again today."

Morganne Houk had Grace's first points of the contest on a contested drive to the basket but it was the Lancers' only points through the first 4:57 of the game.

The Lancers trailed 9-2 before Maddy Poynter, who had just subbed in, connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

Poynter scored six straight points for the Lancers and Kensie Ryman added a late free throw but at the first quarter break the Foresters were leading 21-9.

Houk and Peyton Murphy each had quick scores to start the second but Huntington continued to pad their advantage, leading by 17 points by the midpoint of the second frame.

Grace responded when Ryman found her touch from beyond the arc and Murphy finished through contact on the Lancers' next possession to cut the deficit down to 12 points.

A late score from Houk got the Lancers to as close as 11 points, but a timely Huntington trifecta had the Foresters on top 40-26 entering the half.

Grace shot 28 percent in the first half compared to Huntington's 53 percent. The Foresters held a 22-16 rebound advantage.

Houk had an old-fashioned 3-point play to get Grace on the board in the second half, but again the Lancers' offense went cold, going over four minutes without adding a point. The Foresters were unable to add to their lead however as Grace's effort on the defensive end of the court held them scoreless for nearly the same time.

With three minutes left in the third quarter Huntington went on a mini run and pushed their advantage to 20 points.

Poynter and Marshall helped the Lancers end the frame on an 8-1 run and went into the final stanza trailing 55-40.

The Foresters hit a pair of 3-point field goals to start the fourth quarter and jumped out to their largest lead of the game at 21 points.

Marshall responded with a trifecta of her own and Emma Sperry and Murphy each scored to cut back into the deficit. Murphy added two more points from the free-throw line to pull Grace with 12 but they wouldn't get any closer as they fell by a final score of 79-65.

"We settled too much on the offensive end and our scout defense was poor tonight," Davis added. "We can't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows but we need to attack these games with urgency and that starts on Saturday."

Grace finished the game shooting 34 percent while Huntington cooled down to 48 percent. The Foresters hit 11 3-point field goals compared to the Lancers' three.

Poynter and Houk tied for the team lead in scoring with 16 points apiece and Houk also led all players with nine rebounds. Murphy added 10 points.

Grace will return to action on Saturday for a home contest against Bethel at 1 p.m.