WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

In a critical Crossroads League matchup, Grace College (16-13, 10-7) took it to the Huntington women’s basketball team, 73-57, Wednesday night at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center. There was a lot riding on the outcome for both team as HU was vying for a chance at the third spot in the final league standings while the Lancers were in the hunt for the fourth spot.

As it currently stands, there’s a three-way tie for fourth with HU, Grace and Saint Francis. With one regular season game remaining, a variety of scenarios still exist based on Saturday’s contests.

There were three obvious statistics as to why the Lancers were able to cruise to the lopsided win. In addition to tracking down 17 offensive rebounds, the hosts also forced 18 HU miscues and got to the line 19 times. The combination translated into 52 points for GC while those same stats for the Foresters resulted in just 18 points as they collected eight offensive boards, forced the Lancers into 13 TOs and shot just six free throws.

The first five minutes of the contest were action-packed to include seven lead changes and three ties. Little would anyone suspect that the 5:31 mark of the first quarter proved to be the last time HU would hold a lead as the Lancers finished the quarter on top 20-17. Grace gradually pulled away in the second as their visitors managed just seven points. The result was a 35-24 difference by intermission.

The Lancers opened the second half by draining its fifth triple of the night to extend the lead to 14 but the Foresters finally showed some signs of life to pull back within striking distance. Switching to a zone seemed to rattle Grace while fueling Culler’s crew at the other end of the floor. HU buried four long balls in the third on the way to trimming their deficit to just four, 47-43, by quarter’s end.

Less than three minutes into the fourth, Huntington had roared back to knot things up at 53-53 with Sarah Fryman scoring eight of HU’s first ten points of the quarter. Unfortunately, as quickly as the Foresters had rallied back, just as quickly things went sour as they managed just four points the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Lancers made good on all but three possessions over the final seven minutes to blow the game wide open.

Fryman finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Erin Mohr poured in a career-best 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting which included going a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown. Maddie Richer added nine points, four assists and two steals.

Kyannah Stull topped all scorers with a career-high 25 points while Vironnica Drake tossed in 19.

The Foresters (17-11, 10-7) will close out the regular season by celebrating its seniors on Saturday prior to tipping off with Bethel at 1:00 p.m.