Women's Basketball moved to 2-0 with another strong win Saturday afternoon.
The (RV) Ravens defeated the Morningside University Mustangs, 71-60, avenging another non-conference loss from last season.
After the Ravens held a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Mustangs attempted to make a comeback, knocking down a shot with 8 minutes to play to cut the Ravens lead to 50-43. However, the Ravens responded with a Kennedy Nicholson 3-pointer to push the lead back to 10. Another Mustangs basket was answered by a bucket from Josie Weishaar and the Ravens built their lead up to as many as 14 points.
The Mustangs trimmed it to single-digits once again with 2:34 to play, but another 3-pointer – this time from Lauryn Dubbert – put the finishing touches on the win for the Ravens.
Strong defense put the Ravens in good position at halftime. The Ravens held the Mustangs to 25% shooting from the field and 0-for-11 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The Ravens also out-rebounded Morningside 31-21 in the first half.
The Ravens shot 35% in the first half, knocking down four 3-pointers.
The second half got off to a great start with Weishaar putting her stamp on the game in a little over 90 seconds. Weishaar had 2 steals and a pair of assists to lead to easy buckets in the paint in under 2 minutes of action. The Ravens built a 42-21 lead early in the third quarter, but the Mustangs battled back to trim the Ravens lead to 10 points, 48-38, heading into the fourth quarter. It was the Ravens, though, who made the plays in the final 10 minutes to earn the 11-point win.
The Ravens finished the game shooting 36.2% and sank nine 3-pointers. The Ravens also limited the Mustangs to 28.4% from the field and just 2-20 from the 3-point line while maintaining an 8-rebound advantage on the boards.
Nicholson led all scorers with 15 points while also grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. Riley Bruggeman added 12 points and 6 rebounds, Dubbert had 11 points and 7 boards, and Riley Rottinghaus had 10 points and 6 rebounds. Pounding the boards were Jennifer Jacobs and Weishaar, who had 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively, with both players notching 4 assists.
With the win, the Ravens start off the 2024-25 season with back-to-back wins against non-conference opponents they lost to last season.
The Ravens (2-0) will play an exhibition game at Rockhurst University on Nov. 9 before jumping into Heart of America Conference play on the road at Peru State on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
