Lancers Overcome Shooting Woes In Win
WINONA LAKE – Although the Grace College women’s basketball team struggled mightily with its shooting on Saturday, the Lady Lancers still found a way to win.
Grace made less than 30 percent of their shots but dug deep to defeat Goshen College 59-53 in a Crossroads League contest.
The game started slowly with Goshen scoring the first five points of the contest. The Lady Lancers (17-9; 8-6 Crossroads League) dealt the first blow, however, with a 20-5 run.
Goshen countered with 10 straight points to even the contest as Grace’s offense sputtered.
Grace made just 13-of-44 from the field in the first half, allowing the Maple Leafs (2-24; 0-14 CL) to take a late lead.
Juaneice Jackson buried a deep jump shot in the waning seconds to cut Grace’s deficit to 29-28 at the half.
Grace came out of the locker room misfiring, missing their first eight shots of the second half.
The Maple Leafs, on the other hand, connected on their first six shots. Goshen opened up its largest lead of the game at 37-28 with 17 minutes to play.
To make up for their faltering offense, the Lady Lancers turned to their defense.
Grace installed a fullcourt press, forcing Goshen into eight turnovers over a six-minute stretch. The Lady Lancers scored eight unanswered points to take a 45-44 advantage on a basket from JoEllen Fickel.
The teams traded baskets until a 3-pointer from Jackson handed the Lady Lancers a 50-49 lead with 4:03 to play. Grace did not relinquish the lead again.
Jackson added six more points down the stretch to help keep Goshen at bay.
With 25 seconds to play, Goshen trailed by two and had possession with a chance to tie the game. But Fickel came up with a huge steal to give the ball back to Grace, and Goshen was forced to put the Lady Lancers on the free throw line until the end of the contest.
Jackson, who was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career points, led all players with 29 points. She tallied four steals and two assists as well.
Allison Kauffman produced eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots, and Fickel finished with four points, three rebounds and three steals.
Grace grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and forced Goshen into 25 turnovers. As a result, the Lady Lancers took nearly 30 more shots than the Maple Leafs (75-47).
As a team, Grace shot 29.3 percent from the field, including a 1-of-10 performance from beyond the arc.
The Lady Lancers will look to pick up their third straight win on Wednesday when they host Marian at 7 p.m.