BILLINGS, Mont. – For the fifth time in five appearances, the (RV) Raven Women's Basketball team earned an Opening Round win in the NAIA Div. I Women's Basketball National Championship as they knocked off (6) Columbia (Mo.) College 68-59 in the first game of the championship on Wednesday morning.
Benedictine (24-8) outscored Columbia (28-6) 20-11 in the fourth quarter to earn the win and snap the Cougars 22-game winning streak.
After the two teams battled to a 48-48 tie after three quarters, the game went back and fourth over the final 10 minutes of play. The Ravens opened the fourth quarter with six straight points before the Cougars answered with an 8-0 run to erase the Ravens lead and pull in front, 56-54, with 4:41 left to play. The lead was short-lived as the Ravens' Lexie Villegas knocked in a 3-pointer with 4:15 left to play to give Benedictine the lead for good.
Columbia closed within three points with 48 seconds remaining, but Benedictine answered the call, going 6 of 6 from the charity stripe to maintain their lead and pull away from the Cougars.
Brynn Maul sparked the Ravens from the start as she connected on a 3-pointer seconds into the game to give Benedictine their first lead at 3-0. Maul finished with three 3-pointers as she connected on her first two in the first quarter to help put the Ravens in front, 22-18, after the first quarter.
Benedictine's largest lead fo the game came in the second quarter when they pushed ahead by as much as 13 with just under three minutes left before halftime where they took a 37-29 lead into the halftime break.
Columbia came out strong offensively to start the third quarter, which led to two quick baskets and a timeout from Raven head coach Chad Folsom. The timeout worked to slow the Cougars' momentum and Benedictine turned a three-point lead back to eight, 43-38, with 6:35 left in the third quarter. A 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the third by Columbia's Raegan Wieser gave the Cougars their first lead, 48-47, since the 8:44 mark of the first quarter. Kayla Staley converted a pair of free throws to send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 48.
While the Cougars continued to find baskets in the fourth quarter, the Ravens continued to match them. The Ravens connected on 12 of 18 from the free throw line in the second half, which included a 7-of-8 effort in the final 1:04 of the game.
Maul finished with 16 points while Kristen Murphy added 12. Jordan Closter finished with 11 points and she went 6 of 7 at the free throw line, which included a 4-for-4 effort down the stretch to help keep the Ravens in the lead. Rachel Baumgartner led the Ravens with 10 rebounds.
Benedictine outscored Columbia 26-18 in the paint and held a 20-10 advantage in points off turnovers as they forced the Cougars into 17 turnovers.
The Ravens take on No. 23 Menlo (Calif.) College at 10 a.m. CDT (9 a.m. Mountain) on Friday in the Second Round. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. Mountain).
