Hosting the NCCAA Tournament for the final time after a 15-year run, the Grace women’s basketball entered the week hoping to make one final run to end their hosting duties on a high note. Facing off against No. 5 Southwestern Christian as the No. 4 seed, the Lady Lancers were able to shake off a sluggish start and come back for a 79-73 victory.
The Eagles were the team that took advantage in the early going, getting off to a fast start and leading Grace 7-1 just a few minutes into the game. It wouldn’t take long for the Lady Lancers to formulate an answer, and a few minutes after that initial spurt, Grace was right back in the game, trailing only by a possession.
The home team was able to get an incredibly balanced scoring attack going in the first half, with plenty of players getting involved on the offensive end. Leading the Lady Lancers in scoring after the first quarter of play was Morganne Houk with four, but she was far from the only one that got a shot to fall in the opening 10 minutes. Grace trailed Southwestern Christian for a majority of the opening period, but after tying the game up on multiple occasions, the Lady Lancers were finally able to jump in front with a minute remaining on a pair of free throws by Kensie Ryman. After an answer by the Eagles, Grace would retake the lead going into the second quarter on a last-second runner from senior Maddie Ryman.
Like the first quarter, Southwestern Christian was able to string some good possessions together to begin the second and went back in front. The next few minutes of play would be very closely contested, with both teams jumping in front, but not by much.
About midway through the period, the Lady Lancers began to go on a run of their own, taking their biggest lead of the night at seven on a three pointer by Kaylee Patton. Grace would stay in front for the remainder of the first half, but there were multiple occasions in which the Eagles would do some lead-trimming of their own, getting their deficit down to one possession a couple different times. With Molly Long scoring seven and Bekah Marshall adding six on a pair of three pointers, the Lady Lancers were up by five as the second half began.

    Grace senior Maddie Ryman ducks under a Southwestern Christian defender while looking to score during the third quarter. Photo by Gary Nieter

The offense for Grace sputtered to begin the second half, as the Lady Lancers failed to score in the opening three minutes of the third quarter. But thanks to some stingy defense, the home side was able to stay in front through the drought. When the scoring did finally resume, it did so in a big way, with the team beginning to open it up once again, getting the lead to eight on a three-point play by Houk and to eleven moments later on a three pointer by Peyton Murphy.
Things cooled off a little bit after the big spurt by Grace got the lead up to double figures, but the Lady Lancers were able to stay comfortably ahead by stifling the Eagles, who had suddenly gone cold from the field. Grace was executing its switches on defense perfectly, not allowing any Southwestern Christian players to find any space at all. The hardnosed defense was turned into easy offense by the Lady Lancers, who were able to use a plethora of transition buckets to stay on top.
Eventually, the Eagles were able to get it going once again, going on a much-needed run in the final few minutes of the quarter to get to within four momentarily before Kate Rullli beat the buzzer with a layup to get it back up to six as the two sides headed into the fourth.
Maddie, Grace’s all-time leading scorer, got it going to begin the final quarter of action, scoring six quick points in the first minute and a half of play to give her team some breathing room once again while also becoming the second Lady Lancer to reach double figures, joining Murphy.
Sticking true to the trend of the game, the Eagles were able to muster up yet another run as time continued to wind down, getting to within four, but unable to get any further. Maddie was now fully on fire, hitting shot after shot to dash any hopes of Southwestern Christian coming all the way back. After a quiet first three quarters, Ryman’s senior partner Patton got it going as well, helping to extend the lead back to double figures.
As the minutes turned into seconds, the Lady Lancers showed no signs of slowing down, holding on strong in the game’s final minutes. A few more stops on the defensive end put the exclamation point on a first-round victory for Grace.
Maddie Ryman finished the game with 20 points and seven rebounds. Murphy added 12 while Patton scored eleven.
Grace will play in its semifinal game on Thursday night at the Manahan Orthopeadic Capital Center. Estimated tipoff time is 8:45 p.m.