PHOENIX, Ariz. – Grace College’s women’s basketball team wrapped up its trip west with a hard-fought 79-71 loss at No. 21 Arizona Christian on Wednesday.
The Lady Lancers (8-8) were led by 20 points from Vironnica Drake and 19 from Brooke Sugg. Grace was unable to overcome a pair of untimely droughts in pursuit of the upset.
The first quarter started with a three-pointer by Sugg and ended with a late layup from Kyannah Stull. But ACU (9-4) wrapped up the quarter with a 21-17 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Sugg knocked down back-to-back triples to chop ACU’s lead down to 28-27.
Grace hit a dry spell after Sugg’s treys and did not score again for the next four minutes.
Grace fell behind by 12 but managed to whittle the deficit back to 39-35 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Lady Lancers continued to keep pressure on ACU and eventually made a push in the closing minutes.
With 3:21 left in the period, Grace trailed 53-42. But Drake rallied Grace with seven straight points over the final minutes and the Lady Lancers were behind just 56-53 entering the final stanza.
Grace’s offense hit another fateful drought to start the fourth quarter. The Lady Lancers were scoreless for the first 4:15 of the fourth, allowing ACU to open up a comfortable 66-53 cushion.
The Lady Lancers still managed to fight back in the final frantic minutes as treys from Stull and Drake gave Grace hope.
Drake made back-to-back layups to pull Grace within five at 70-65 with 3:01 on the clock. But ACU iced the win by making four of its next five field goals, resulting in the final eight-point margin of victory.
Drake’s 20 points came with six rebounds, and Sugg had a busy stat line with 19 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Brooke Treadway was a boost off the bench, making 6 of 6 from the floor for 12 points with three steals. Stull tallied 10 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Kaylie Warble had three points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Lancers return home on Dec. 29 for a doubleheader with the men’s team. Grace will host Asbury at noon at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.
