Grace College’s Darian Patton drives through the Huntington defense Wednesday evening. (Photo provided by the Grace College Sports Information Department)

WINONA LAKE – Wednesday’s game between Grace’s women’s basketball team and Huntington was filled with highs and lows. Fortunately for Grace, the final high went to the home team.

Huntington missed free throws in the last second to prevent a potential overtime game as the Lady Lancers (13-12, 8-5 Crossroads League) held on for a 61-59 victory.

In the final dramatic seconds, Grace held a three-point lead. On Huntington’s last chance, the Foresters were fouled at halfcourt on a desperation 3-pointer. Fortunately for Grace, Huntington missed the first of three foul shots with 0.3 seconds on the clock to essentially secure the win for Grace.

The Lady Lancers won thanks to their tremendous rebounding effort (plus-17) and a consistently stout defensive performance.

The win also moves Grace into sole possession of third place in the league standings, one game behind Indiana Wesleyan for second place.

Offensively, Grace struggled at times with 20 turnovers and only shot 27 percent from the floor in the second half. But Grace’s defense held the Foresters to 34 percent shooting for the game, including 5-of-22 (23 percent) from beyond the arc.

Lauren Godfrey led Grace with 14 points off the bench, including a crucial 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

Grace led for the majority of the opening half but never with a lead more than five points.

Kelsie Peterson sparked the Lady Lancers in the first quarter with six points. A late 3-pointer from Huntington’s Miranda Palmer cut the Foresters’ deficit to 16-14 at the quarter’s end.

The Foresters (12-12, 6-7 CL) rallied to tie the score a few minutes into the second quarter, but back-to-back post moves from Haley Richardson gave Grace a four-point edge. On Grace’s final possession of the half, Broghan Gamble buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Lady Lancers a 35-31 lead going into the break.

Grace struggled in ball control with 14 turnovers, allowing Huntington to score 16 points off those miscues. But the Lady Lancers shot the ball well, hitting 56 percent from the floor.

Even when Grace missed its shots, the Lady Lancers grabbed the offensive board. Grace missed 12 shots in the half and had an offensive rebound on eight of those misses. Overall, Grace outrebounded Huntington 23-6 before halftime.

The second half was much of the same. Grace never trailed but also never led by more than eight.

In the third quarter, Richardson and Vironnica Drake combined for 11 of the team’s 14 points. But the Foresters refused to fade and stayed within striking distance.

With less than three minutes on the clock, Godfrey hit a 3-pointer which halted a three-minute drought from Grace and lifted the Lady Lancers to a seven-point lead.

The Foresters charged back an 8-1 run over the next minute to tie the game, aided by an and-1 and a 3-pointer.

Gamble found Peterson open in the corner on Grace’s next play, and Peterson buried the 3-pointer to put Grace up by three with 45 seconds remaining.

The Foresters scored to make the score 59-58, but Godfrey calmly sank two free throws with 10 seconds left to reassert a three-point edge.

After forcing Huntington into a turnover, Grace missed a chance to ice the game at the free throw line by missing two foul shots. The next play resulted in the near-fatal foul on the Foresters’ desperation halfcourt heave.

Grace had three players who flirted with a double-double. Richardson tallied 10 points, 8 boards and 3 assists, and Drake added 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Peterson put up 11 points and seven rebounds to go along with a defensive matchup against Huntington’s all-time leading scorer (Palmer).

Darian Patton and Pam Miller each had six points and four rebounds, and Hannah Adams added five rebounds and two assists.

The Lady Lancers will travel to archrival Bethel on Saturday for a doubleheader. The women’s game will tip off at 1 p.m. with the men’s game to follow at 3 p.m.