FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Grace College’s women’s basketball team had its stay in the Crossroads League Tournament ended in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
The Lancers (14-15), Who were making their second trip to Fort Wayne in seven days, fell to the fourth seeded St. Francis Cougars 75-67.
Grace will now turn its attention to a likely bid to the NCCAA National Tournament, which will be hosted at Grace’s Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. The tournament will start on March 20th.
The Cougars (18-10) started the game a perfect 3-3 from the field to start the game with a 7-0 lead.
USF threatened to extend their lead even further but back-to-back steals for Grace sparked a Lancer run in response.
Sisters Kensie Ryman and Maddie Ryman rattled off seven unanswered points to bring Grace even. Peyton Murphy and Kaylee Patton then each had scores in the paint to cap off an 11-0 run and give the Lancers a four-point lead.
The Cougars responded with a pair of timely 3-points shots and had a last second layup to carry a 15-13 lead into the second stanza.
Houk tied the game on the first shot of the quarter then Kate Rulli converted at the charity stripe to give Grace a lead that was quickly relinquished back to the Cougars after a USF trifecta.
Grace shot 66 percent in the second quarter and Houk had nine points but it was only enough to match the Cougars 16 second-quarter points as USF continued to hit from beyond the arc at a blistering rate. At halftime Grace trailed 31-29.
The Lancers shot an impressive 55 percent in the first half and forced the Cougars into eight turnovers while commiting just two. USF was able to take advantage of six 3-point shots on 13 attempts to fuel their halftime lead.
After a quick score for USF to start the second half, Patton hit a trifecta to cut the lead to one and Murphy had another score in the paint to push Grace ahead 34-33.
The Cougars came back with trifectas on four of their next five shots which kick started a 15-3 run. By the end of the quarter the Cougars had built the lead to 15 points and led 56-41.
The Lancers came out with urgency in the final frame scoring the first seven points of the frame to cut the deficit to eight points.
Once again the Cougars found success from deep, hitting 3-point shots on the next two possessions to extend the lead back to double digits.
The Lancers continued to fight back and trimmed the lead to as little as five points, but USF was able to ice the game from the free-throw line for the 75-67 victory.
“These girls left it all out there tonight,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “We have had some slow starts in the third quarter this year and it happened again tonight. St. Francis obviously was hot from deep but we still had a shot to win the game. We will get some time off to rest up and then turn our attention towards the NCCAA tournament. Looking forward to three more weeks with this group.”
Grace shot 44 percent from the field while USF hit on 55 percent of their tries plus 54 percent (13-24) from deep.
The Lancers were out rebounded 30-19 but committed just four turnovers compared to the Cougars’ 17.
Freshman Morganne Houk had a breakout performance in her first taste of postseason action, pacing Grace with a career high 20 points. Murphy finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Patton had 14 points.

Grace Holds NAIA’s No. 1 Ranking
WINONA LAKE - Grace’s men’s basketball team held firm at No. 1 in the final regular season NAIA poll.
The Top 25 Coaches’ Poll was released on Wednesday, marking the final poll of the 2023-24 season.
Grace has been ranked No. 1 for six straight polls, dating back to Nov. 29.
The Lancers (27-1, 17-1 Crossroads League) just completed their best regular season in team history. Grace won its most games (27) and conference games (17) in program history, winning the CL regular season title for the second straight season.
Grace is the No. 1 seed in this week’s CL Tournament. The Lancers hosted eighth-seeded Taylor Wednesday night at 7 p.m. With a win, Grace would host the semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. against either Marian or Bethel.
With a win in the semifinals, Grace would also host the championship game for the conference tournament on Tuesday. The Lancers are two-time defending champions of the conference tournament.

Softball Opens Season On Monday With Two Losses
WINONA LAKE - Grace College’s softball started the 2024 season with a home doubleheader on Monday afternoon.
The season opening clash saw the Lancers drop a pair of contests IU South Bend, 6-2 and 9-4.
The afternoon was highlighted by a stellar showing from the plate from Jeri Ellis. Ellis had five hits in seven at bats across the doubleheader.
Ellis also got from the start from the circle for Grace in game one of the afternoon. She started the day retiring the top of the Titans lineup in order. Ellis had the Lancers’ lone hit in the bottom of the inning and reached scoring position with a clean steal of second base.
Despite Grace threatening, IUSB was able to escape the first inning without giving up the go ahead run and in the top of the second plated two runs to push ahead 2-0.
Madison Gainey earned a leadoff walk to start the home-half of the second inning and Tia O’Connor followed it up with a double to left-center field. A one-out walk saw the Lancers load the bases, but IUSB again was squeaked by without allowing a run thanks to an inning ending double play.
In the third inning Grace broke through for the first run of the season.
Ellis reached base with a two-out double and came around to score when Cassie Hayes had a hard hit ball to right field.
Grace’s offense went quiet in the middle innings and IUSB took advantage, scoring two runs in the fourth and sixth innings to grow their lead to 6-1.
Gainey hit a single into right field and used her speed to reach second base before the Titans could corral the ball. O’Connor then had an infield single and Gainey came all the way around to score after a wild throw from the Titans second baseman.
The Lancers were unable to get any close though as they dropped the season opener 6-2.
The Titans continued to find offensive success in the second game, plating an unearned run in the first inning.
Despite having at least one player reach base in each of the first four innings the Lancers were unable to answer the Titans run.
IUSB grew the lead to 5-0 entering the fourth inning and used a three-run home run in the fifth to push the advantage to 8-0.
In the bottom of the fifth Grace broke up the shutout. Bela Duran and Halle Nett each singled early in the pitch count.
Ellis picked up her fifth hit of the afternoon with a hit into right field and Duran was able to plate the Lancers’ first run after scoring from second base. Hayes doubled Grace’s score with an RBI that scored Nett.
Maisy Harlow was called to pinch hit in the sixth inning and took advantage of her opportunity, earning a walk. Kyrah Lewis was the second straight pinch hitter for Grace to reach base with a single that advanced Harlow to third.
With runners on the corners, Duran came to the plate and scored both players after a hard hit ground ball took an opportune bounce that caused the Titans fielders issue.
Alexis Bergman pitched the final two and a third innings without giving up a run but it was not enough to help Grace close the gap as the Lancers fell 9-4.
Duran ended the day with two hits and a pair of RBIs while O’Connor collected three hits. Freshman Chloe Huff had three strikeouts in her first collegiate appearance.