The No. 22-ranked Raven Women's Basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday as they wrapped up play in the Holiday Inn Express Classic inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.
Southwestern Christian University (3-1) outscored Benedictine (3-1) 52-41 over the final three quarters of play to upend the Ravens 62-54.
Benedictine held a 28-26 lead at the half after shooting 40.9 percent from the floor while converting three 3-pointer and 7 of 12 free throws. Southwestern Christian trailed despite 11 first-half field goals as they connected on just 25 percent from beyond the arc with one two free throws.
Southwestern Christian took their first lead of the game inside the first three minutes of third quarter but only held onto it briefly as a baskets from Natalie Smaron and Ali Brzozowski along with a free throw from Sam Brennan pushed the Ravens back in front 35-31 with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Eagles answered with a run that not only erased the Ravens advantage, but pushed Southwestern Christian in front by as much as nine points before taking a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Southwestern Christian extended their lead to 11 points midway through the fourth quarter. Brennan sparked the Ravens comeback effort scoring eight of 10 points over a three-minute stretch to pull Benedictine back within three. That was all the closer the Ravens would get as the Eagles closed out the game outscoring Benedictine 10-3 to earn the eight-point win.
Brennan paced the Ravens with 18 points off the bench as Benedictine finished with a 29-14 advantage in bench scoring. Smaron added 10 while Ali Brzozowski added 9 points to round out the Ravens leading scorers.
The Ravens remain at home Wednesday as they open Heart play at 5:30 p.m. against Missouri Valley College. Wednesday is also Student Appreciation Night.
