COLUMBUS, Ind. - Grace College's women's basketball fell for the first time of the season against Cumberland on Saturday afternoon.
The upset minded Lancers (2-1) played close in the first half, but a slow third quarter allowed the Phoenix, who are receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches Poll, to pull away for the 86-61 victory.
Braylin Terrell and Caydence Clark had the first scores of the game to give the Lancers a 5-0 lead early in the 1st quarter.
Brooklyn Buzzard nailed back-to-back trifectas late in the frame but Cumberland (1-1) had found offensive rhythm and led 15-13 at the quarter break.
The Phoenix scored first in the second quarter before
Jenna Reed got the Lancers on the board and
Allyson Rideout nailed a shot from beyond the arc to give Grace a 18-17 lead. Â
Grace went cold from the field following the Rideout score. The Lancers shot just 30 percent in the quarter and were 1-10 from beyond the arc.
The Lancers trailed by 10 with a minute left when things seemed to slide in the Lancers favor.
Following a made free throw from
Lily Kreischer,
Emma Sperry was hit on the box out with what was deemed to be a flagrant two foul. The player was disqualified and Sperry hit both free throws.
Sperry then scored again in dramatic fashion as she beat the halftime buzzer to pull the Lancers within six points at 40-34 entering the half.
At the half the Lancers were shooting 28 percent from the field and 57 percent from the free throw line. Sperry had nine points at the half.
Sperry continued her scoring run to start the second half with a pull up jump shot to cut the deficit to four points. The Phoenix answered the Sperry bucket with an 8-0 run to reestablish a double digit advantage.
Mariah Stoltzfus and
Cam Conley each had 3-point field goals to help the Lancers keep pace with Cumberland who hit nearly 70 percent of their shots in the quarter.
The Phoenix pulled away late with a 7-0 run to carry a 64-46 lead into the fourth and final frame.
Grace was unable to cut into the deficit in the fourth quarter; the Cumberland lead hovered around 20 points for the duration of the quarter.
Sperry paced the Lancers with seven points in the frame but the Lancers ultimately fell 86-61.
"We struggled to make shots tonight," commented Grace head coach
Dan Davis. "We were hitting on offense like we would have liked and I think we let that affect us on the defensive side of the floor as well. Really pleased overall after the three games this week and think there is a lot of good that we are taking from this."
Sperry led all players with 18 points and paced Grace with six rebounds. Buzzard had 10 points and Terrell had five blocks.
The Lancers will be back in action on Friday when they take on IU Northwest at Olivet Nazarene.
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