WINONA LAKE, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball team topped Cleary 79-61 on Friday afternoon.
The contest was a part of elementary day as students from surrounding elementary schools packed the MOCC giving the Lancers an impressive home-court advantage.
The Lancers (7-3, 1-3 Crossroads League) took advantage of the rowdy crowd as they forced the Cougars into 38 turnovers. Grace’s defensive efforts were led by Peyton Murphy who tied the school record for steals in a game with 10.
Cleary (3-8) got on the board first in Friday’s showdown, but on the next possession Bekah Marshall fed a pass to Murphy who capitalized with a score from the painted area to tie the game at two.
Both offenses went cold from the field over the next four minutes but the Lancers were able to bolster their advantage from the charity stripe.
With three-minutes left in the first quarter Grace sparked their offense with a pair of steals that Murphy cashed in on fastbreak opportunities to push the Lancers’ lead to 16-8.
The Cougars answered back with six unanswered to pull back within two points but a late Murphy score had Grace ahead 19-14 at the quarter break.
The second frame saw both offenses struggle as they managed just two successful free throws through the opening minutes.
When Cleary finally broke the seal on their bucket they exploded with three consecutive 3-point field goals to jump into the lead. Their lead was short lived though as Grace blitzed back with an 11-2 run. At the halftime intermission Grace led 37-30.
Grace shot 35.5 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while Cleary shot 36.4 percent. The Lancers held a narrow 22-21 advantage on the boards.
Both teams struggled with ball possession as they combined for 36 turnovers. Murphy had six steals.
The Cougars started the third quarter out strong as they chipped away at the halftime deficit. Clear drew to within two points just 3:34 into the quarter.
A pair of free throws from Marshall and a turnover from Cleary that led to a Murphy trifecta allowed the Lancers a little breathing room.
Another timely 3-point shot from Sophia Morrison put an end to another Cougars run as Grace’s lead slowly grew.
A Kensie Ryman fastbreak score which was started with a steal by Morrison pushed the Lancers lead to double digits for the first time of the afternoon.
Morganne Houk added a late jumper to give Grace a 57-45 lead entering the final frame.
Cleary started out the fourth quarter with a pair of unanswered buckets, but Morriosn again found her touch from deep to respond to the Cougar rally.
Grace hit on an even 50 percent of their shots in the quarter to keep Cleary at bay.
A pair of late Ryman free throws pushed the score to its final tally of 79-61 in favor of the Lancers.
“This game is always one of our highlights of the year", said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “Playing in front of these kids in such a unique environment is so much fun. On the floor I thought we were sloppy on offense but I thought our press and half court defense was solid today. Whenever we can play good defense and get to the line on offense we are going to ourselves in a good spot to win a game.:
Murphy’s explosive stat line included a monstrous double with 26 points, 10 steals, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Marshall also double-doubled with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Morrison, Ryman and Houk all chipped in double digit scoring.
Grace finished the game shooting 43 percent from the floor and held a commanding 36-19 advantage on points scored off of turnover overs.
Grace will now travel to Arizona for a pair of games including a contest on Monday against No. 19 Arizona Christian.