In a battle of NAIA Div. I Top 25 opponents for the second straight Saturday, the No. 21-ranked Raven women's basketball hosted No. 17 Central Methodist University inside the friendly confines of the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.
The Benedictine (15-3, 5-1 HAAC) defense held CMU (16-2, 5-2) scoreless from beyond the 3-point arc en route to a 10-point win as the Ravens won 67-57.
The win for the Ravens pushes them into sole possession of second place in the HAAC and just a half-game behind conference leader MNU.
After playing just four games through the month of December, the Ravens were taking on CMU in the HAAC Game of the Week in their fourth game in January.
In their first three games of 2013, Benedictine had only converted over 40 percent from the floor one. Saturday, on the heels of a 46.4 percent effort in the second half, the Ravens finished at 42.6 percent from the field to earn the win.
Not only did the Ravens shoot their highest percent of 2013 on Saturday, they also started to find their rhythm from beyond the 3-point arc.
Coming off two games in which they converted less than 25-percent from beyond the arc, the Ravens connected 45.5 percent on Saturday knocking in 10 of 22. In their first three games of 2013, Benedictine converted 13 3-pointers.
A 50 percent effort from beyond the arc in the second half combined with a defensive effort that limited CMU to just eight second-half field goals helped lead Benedictine to the upset victory.
After trading leads several times over the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Ravens trailed by three points when guard Justice Payne (Jr., Stillwater, Okla.) knocked in a 3-pointer to even the score at 50 points.
Over the next seven minutes, Benedictine outscored CMU 15-3 to pull ahead of the Eagles.
Central Methodist, who enter the game No. 11 in NAIA Div. I in 3-point makes with 115 3-pointers, went 0 for 15 from beyond the arc on Saturday.
Payne lead all scorers with 21 points for Benedictine. For the first time this season, Payne converted five 3-pointers against the NAIA's No. 6-ranked 3-point field defense team.
Payne went 7 of 13 from the field and converted both her free throw attempts to reach more than 20 points for the second time this season.
Benedictine post Liz Stinson (Sr., Stilwell) added 14 points to round out the top scorers for the Ravens.
Three players finished in double figures for CMU, led by the 16 points of Kyra Williams.
Benedictine has a quick turn around, traveling to Marshall, Mo., on Monday night for a 5:30 p.m. game against Missouri Valley College.
They return home on Thursday, Jan. 17, for a 5:30 p.m. conference contest against rival Baker University.
