Top-Ranked IWU Bests Lancers
MARION, Ind. – The Grace College women’s basketball team had its hands full with No. 1-ranked Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday night.
The defending national champions handed the Lady Lancers a 71-42 defeat in Crossroads League play.
Offense was hard for Grace to come by on Wednesday. The Lady Lancers made just 17 field goals in the game, committing 23 turnovers and producing two assists as a team.
With just over four minutes remaining in the first half, Grace had nine points to their credit. Back-to-back hoops from Juaneice Jackson injected life into the Lady Lancers, but they still trailed 32-17 at halftime.
The Wildcats (9-0; 2-0 CL) built up a sizeable lead into the second half on the strength of their defense. The Lady Lancers could only muster nine points through the first 15 minutes of the second half and trailed 65-28 with 5:23 remaining.
Grace did rattle off 14 points over the final five minutes of action. A late trio of 3-pointers by sophomore Kelsey Sule provided a rare offensive outburst from the Lady Lancers (4-6; 1-1 CL).
Jackson took scoring honors for the game with 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Sule had nine points, and Allison Kauffman tallied eight points and five boards. No one else for Grace scored more than three points.
Grace’s defense held Indiana Wesleyan to 45 percent shooting. The Wildcats also committed 17 turnovers. IWU’s biggest advantages were in rebounds (plus-17) and at the free throw line with 29 attempts compared to 11 for Grace.