WINONA LAKE – Grace College's women's basketball team surrendered a late lead against Taylor University Saturday and wound losing 62-58 in the regular season finale for both teams. The 24th-ranked Lady Lancers (18-12; 10-8 MCC) wasted a dominant performance on the glass as they outrebounded the Lady Trojans by 13 on the day. The teams struggled to find separation until Grace made a charge midway through the second half. Grace turned a one-point deficit into a 48-38 lead with 9:47 remaining thanks to five points from Hannah Lengel during a 13-2 run. But the Lady Lancers went cold offensively down the stretch and managed just four points in an eight minute stretch. Taylor, on the other hand, scored 19 points in that same period as they took a 59-54 lead with 1:12 to play. The Lady Trojans (18-12; 8-10 MCC) saw the game slip to a one-possession game in the final seconds, but Grace couldn’t pull out a win as it failed to convert on its potential game-tying possession. Grace finished in a tie for fourth place in the Mid-Central College Conference but will enter this week's MCC Tournament as the No. 5 seed due to tiebreakers. The Lady Lancers will travel to fourth-seeded Saint Francis Tuesday at 7 p.m. for their first-round matchup. Grace split the home-and-away series with Saint Fracis during the regular season, winning 57-41 in Fort Wayne a week ago. In the first half of Saturday's game, the Lady Lancers missed a number of opportunities against Taylor’s 2-3 zone defense, finishing with just 27.8 percent shooting from the floor. Grace managed to keep pace with Taylor, however, by virtue of its dominance on the glass. The Lady Lancers outrebounded the Trojans by 14 in the first half, including grabbing 14 offensive rebounds. The Lady Trojans shot 46.2 percent from the field in the opening half and led by as many as six points, but the Lady Lancers used an 8-2 run to cut the margin to 28-27 at the half. Lengel was instrumental in Grace’s strong start to the second half, scoring eight of her 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the half. But the Lady Lancers saw their double-digit lead evaporate with Taylor’s late charge. Overall, the game saw 12 lead changes and six ties. The Lady Lancers held the edge in rebounds (45-32) and in turnovers (12-16), but the Lady Trojans were much more accurate from the field at 48.1 percent compared to just 30.1 percent for the Lady Lancers. Hayley Cashier highlighted Grace’s efforts with 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, and Lengel added 10 points, five boards and four assists with one turnover. Danielle Boykin did not see her typical scoring output (three points), but she pulled down nine offensive rebounds and 10 boards overall. Juaneice Jackson also tallied 10 points and four steals, while former Whitko High School player Emily Bidwell scored six points. Erin Guarneri led the Lady Trojans with a game-high 23 points and five rebounds, while Erika Redweik added 19 points and seven boards. Former Warsaw Community High School standout Kelci Freds scored four points for Taylor.
