The Raven Women ran out of time in their comeback attempt Wednesday night at home against the Peru State College Bobcats.
The Ravens lost 67-61 after trailing by double-digits heading into the fourth quarter.
Dealing with injuries and illnesses that forced five regular rotation players to miss Wednesday's game, the Ravens fell behind by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter. A timeout with 6:28 to play, though, was the start of a comeback attempt. The Ravens scored a quick 5 points out of the timeout.
That spurt helped key a 12-4 run for the Ravens, who found themselves down 65-61 with 1:30 to play. The Ravens were unable to get any closer, though, as the offense was unable to convert any more buckets in the remaining 90 seconds.
Cold shooting hurt the Ravens in the opening 20 minutes. The home squad shot 27.6 percent from the floor in the opening half, falling behind by as many as 16 points.
Rylee Neill and Skylar Washington helped the Ravens dig out of the hole. Neill sank three 3-pointers in a row and Washington hit two first-half treys. It was Washington's 3-pointer with less than a minute to play before halftime that brought the Ravens back to within single-digits of the Bobcats.
The Ravens also turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, contributing to the deficit they faced entering the second half.
In the third quarter, the Ravens cut the Bobcats lead to 5 points on two separate occasions, but couldn't pull any closer. After closing the gap to 45-40 with 2:23 left to play in the third, the Bobcats finished the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 12-point lead into the final frame. The deficit proved to be too much for the Ravens to overcome.
Washington led the way with 19 points and Neill finished with 17 for the Ravens. Both players converted 5-of-9 3-point attempts. Grace Brzozowski added 10 points and was the only other Raven to score in double-figures.
Missing the bulk of their inside presence, the Ravens lost the rebounding battle, 39-33. They finished the game shooting 36.7 percent from the field.
The Ravens (18-11, 13-11 Heart of America) will travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa, to take on William Penn University for their final regular-season game of the season. WPU (26-2, 21-2) clinched a share of the Heart regular season conference championship with a win on Wednesday.
