Wednesday night's comeback effort came up short for Women's Basketball.
The Ravens lost to the Evangel Crusaders 63-58 after trailing by as many as 16 points early in the fourth quarter.
The Ravens were down by 12 with 3:15 to play, but a 3-pointer by Skylar Washington pulled them within single digits. Ali Brzozowski made a bucket to cut the score to 59-52 with 1:23 to play. Washington was fouled and made a pair of free throws, then assisted Kayla Staley on a layup to pull the Ravens to 59-56. However, the Crusaders sank their free throws down the stretch, holding on for the win.
The Crusaders made their second of two big runs in the third quarter. The Ravens trimmed Evangel's halftime lead from 7 points to 34-31, but the Crusaders closed the quarter on a 17-6 run to take a 51-37 advantage into the fourth quarter. The deficit proved to be too much for the Ravens to overcome.
Evangel opened the game on a 7-0 run, but the Ravens were up to the task and answered with a 7-0 run to level the game. The remainder of the opening quarter remained tight as the Crusaders held a 13-12 advantage after 10 minutes.
After taking their first lead of the game early in the second quarter, 14-13, the Ravens allowed the Crusaders to go on a 17-2 run to take a 30-16 lead. However, the Ravens bounced back in the final 90 seconds of the quarter to cut Evangel's lead to 32-25 at halftime.
Like their first meeting this season, when the Ravens had 21 turnovers in a loss at Evangel, turnovers were an issue in the first half for the Ravens. They had 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, leading to 9 points for the Crusaders. The Ravens were able to cut down their turnovers considerably in the second half, finishing the game with 15, total. The remaining stat lines were similar for each team as neither shot well from deep, and both converted well from the free throw line. Brzozowski led the way for the Ravens with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Joining Brzozowski in double-figures were Washington with 14 points and Staley with 12 points. The Ravens scored 32 of their 58 points in the paint.
The deep ball was a struggle for the Ravens as they converted just 2-of-16 from deep in the game.
Next up for the Ravens is a trip to Dubuque, Iowa, to take on (19) Clarke University on Saturday, Feb. 15.
