The No. 19-ranked Raven Women's Basketball team earned the No. 3 spot in the Heart South and will host Heart North No. 6 Graceland University at 7 p.m. tonight in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium for a chance to advance to the Heart Postseason Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday.
Since Tuesday's game is a Heart Postseason game, season tickets are not valid for admission. General admission tickets for adults are $6, students – both visiting college and 17 and under – are $2, while Benedictine students will be admitted free with a valid ID.
In their only meeting of the season, less than a week ago, the Ravens earned a 77-58 win over Graceland in Lamoni, Iowa. In that meeting, the Raven pushed ahead by 10 points after the end of the first quarter as they led 20-10. The Ravens added 25 points in the second quarter pushing their lead to 45-25 at the break.
Benedictine finished the half shooting 42.5 percent from the floor while Graceland was close behind at 42.3 percent. Defensively, the Ravens held the Yellowjackets to just six field goals in the second quarter while holding the Yellowjackets to just two 3-pointers in the first half. Benedictine was able to get to the free throw line 10 times, shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe at the half.
Benedictine pulled ahead by 25 points – their largest lead of the game – twice in the third quarter. Natalie Smaron pushed the Ravens ahead by 25 points the first time with 3:30 left in the quarter while Brynn Maul gave the Ravens a 25-point lead with 52 seconds left in the third quarter.
Graceland outscored Benedictine by five points in the fourth quarter but couldn't cut their deficit down to less than 17 points as the Ravens earned the 18-point win.
Kristen Murphy led the Ravens in scoring as she finished with her second straight double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling in a game-high 11 rebounds. Jordan Closter scored 14 points while Rachael Baumgartner finished with a double-double off the bench, scoring 10 points with 11 rebounds. The Ravens finished with a 30-5 advantage off the bench while they earned a 23-4 advantage in second-chance scoring as they pulled in a season-high 33 offensive rebounds.
Prior to tip off on Tuesday, Lexie Villegas will be honored for breaking the Women's Basketball Career Rebound record, which she broke in the meeting with Graceland. She will be joined by former record holder Emily Smith for the ceremony.
