Grace blows by Bethel for fourth straight win
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s women’s basketball team continued its late-season surge with a 76-50 victory over rival Bethel on Saturday.
The Lady Lancers (14-12, 8-6 Crossroads League) won their fourth straight game and secured a season sweep of Bethel.
While Grace’s offense started slowly in the first half, it picked up momentum in a decisive fashion. The Lady Pilots (7-19, 2-12 CL) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but that lead was short-lived.
The Lady Lancers responded with 10 unanswered points, including six points off turnovers and four points from Pam Miller.
Micaela Box rattled in a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter to help Grace to a 13-12 lead.
Grace’s momentum continued into a dominant second quarter. The Lady Lancers outscored Bethel 22-6 in the period.
Pam Miller and Kaylie Warble repeatedly outmuscled Bethel in the post. Miller tallied seven points and two assists in the quarter, and Grace held an 11-4 advantage in rebounds.
Grace cruised into halftime with a comfortable 35-17 lead after Brooke Sugg ended the half with a silky floater in the lane.
Miller led all players with 11 first-half points, and Grace had 10 assists on 16 made field goals.
Grace quickly ballooned its lead to 20 in the third quarter. Sugg came out firing, hitting two 3-pointers and three more buckets; she totaled 12 points in the first 4:42 of the quarter.
Bethel saw its deficit grow to 34 in the third quarter and never made a significant dent for the rest of the game.
Grace head coach Scott Blum substituted liberally in the fourth quarter, allowing all 12 players to get in the scoring column.
Sugg ended up with a game-high 22 points, scoring 18 of those points after halftime. She went 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and added three assists.
Vironnica Drake stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, and Miller tallied 11 points, 4 steals, 3 assists and 3 boards.
Warble finished with six points and a game-high eight rebounds, Lauren Godfrey had three assists, and Lexi Minix added four points and two assists.
Grace shot 53 percent from the floor as a team and only committed 11 turnovers, the second-lowest amount of the season.
Bethel was stifled into 37 percent shooting, including 4-of-17 from the 3-point line, to go along with 19 turnovers.
The Lady Lancers will take their four-game winning streak into a tough matchup on Wednesday. Grace hosts two-time defending NAIA champion Marian on Wednesday at 7 p.m.