Kaylee Patton had a big game for Grace Thursday morning against Columbia International, registering 11 points, eight assists, five steals and four rebounds. InkFreeNews photo by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE – Sometimes a good night’s sleep is all it takes.

Having the comforts of home to surround them, the Grace College women’s basketball team slept off a tough opening round loss to clobber Columbia International, 84-58, Thursday in the consolation bracket of the NCCAA Women’s Basketball National Championships.

Grace fell out of the championship race Wednesday in a lopsided loss to Concordia, but rebounded figuratively and literally Thursday morning against CIU.

The Lady Lancers pulled down 40 rebounds in the contest, and found prosperity in its post for the first time in nearly a month. After being held to nine interior points by Concordia, Grace bounced back with 27 post points against CIU. The combo of Kaylee Patton and Kaylie Warble went 10-20 from the floor and put forth 21 of those points, Warble adding nine rebounds and Patton eight assists, five steals and four boards.

The attention the Rams had to drop inside then allowed Grace’s shooters to go to work. After missing 16 three-pointers Wednesday, Grace shot 10-17 from deep in the first half, seven of those coming in a 26-point second quarter that helped the Lady Lancers jump out to a 43-26 lead at the break.

“It was so important for us to get out strong to start, and I think we did that once we hit a couple shots,” said Grace College head coach Dan Davis. “This is a good CIU team. They came in with 15 wins, they come from a good conference and have athletes all over the court. After yesterday, we had to set the tone, and I think we did that by making some shots, especially those threes in the second quarter.”

Kyannah Stull hit five treys and finished with a team-high 22 points and Maddie Ryman was right behind with four treys and 14 points. Hidden in the box score was a 4-6 shooting performance from Kamryn Hostetler, who had fell into a tough three-game funk from the floor, but broke out with 13 points and added three assists.

Tiona Walls had 12 points to lead the Rams, which trailed just 17-16 early in the second quarter before Grace went on a 20-4 run to separate the two teams.

“Our defense today ignited our offense,” Davis said. “That set the tone. We got some stops and forced some turnovers and then got out running. Once we got some good looks at the basket, those shots fell today. Totally different result than yesterday. Our confidence was there, we moved and shared the ball really well.”

Grace (13-17) will look to finish its season on a high note, taking on Ecclesia at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon at the MOCC.

“The thing I am most proud of today, we talk so much about our culture, ‘we don’t bend for anybody’,” stated Davis. “Today was a great example of our ladies being disappointed yesterday, but to bounce back and play like they did today, win like they did today, it shows a lot about who we are.

“Those ladies on the court, the ones who have played here the past two, three years, it shows the young players, too, that this is who we are. It’s easy in a tournament like this, you lose a game like yesterday and most teams are done. You still have two games to play. We lost an entire tournament last year, no one got to play. Take advantage of today. For us to play like that today, man, that tells me a lot about the character of the young women we have in this program.”