The No. 3-seeded Benedictine women’s basketball team exited the HAAC Tournament with a 72-66 home loss against No. 6 MidAmerica Nazarene University March 4 in the tournament quarterfinals.
The Lady Ravens ended their season with an overall record of 18-12 going 13-7 in conference play.
In the first half, the Lady Pioneers took an early five-point lead over the Lady Ravens.
Center Teresa Zienkewicz started off the Raven squad with their first basket, which the team used to tip off an 11-0 run over the Lady Pioneers.
Dominating the Pioneers’ defense, the Lady Ravens soared to a 22-point lead, but MNU would go on an 11-4 run in the last moments of the first half.
Going into halftime the Lady Ravens led the Pioneers 40-25.
“We came out with fire,” head coach Chad Folsom said. “We executed well during the first half. Our defense was able to hold them and we kept up the intensity.”
Going into the second half, the Lady Pioneers came out with high energy and managed to cut the Lady Raven lead to six points. BC went scoreless in the game’s third quarter, save for six points scored off free throws.
Forward Jillian Flores scored the Lady Ravens’ first field goal of the second half at the 10-minute mark.
The Lady Ravens were unable to fight back against the Lady Pioneers’ heavy defensive pressure in the second half.
Of the 26 points scored by the Lady Ravens in the second, 18 of them came from the free-throw line. “[MNU was] very aggressive against us,” Folsom said. “We weren’t shooting well at all in the second.”
The Lady Ravens were led by center Heather Wansing with 13 points and four rebounds, guard Drew Huff had her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and center Liz Stinson had 10 points and six rebounds.
The Lady Ravens shot 37.5 percent from the floor, 30 percent from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent from the charity stripe in the season-ending loss.
“We had a great season,” Folsom said. “They gave it their all. The seniors should be proud, they should all be proud. We have come so far from where we were back in January.”
The Lady Ravens finished off the regular season with two home wins, 58-47 on Senior Night against Avila University Feb. 25 and 72-60 against Missouri Valley College two days later.
In the Missouri Valley game, the Lady Ravens were led by guard Kaela Stratman with 12 points and two rebounds, Wansing with 10 points and six rebounds, and guard Kelsey Wolfe with 10 points and one rebound.
The squad shot 51.1 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three-point land and 66.2 percent from the line.
On senior night, the Ravens were led by senior captain Christina Reischl with 15 points and seven rebounds, Stratman with 15 points and two rebounds, and Zienkewicz with 12 points and two rebounds.
The Lady Ravens shot 32.6 percent from the floor, 41.2 percent from behind the arch and 77.8 percent from the line.
