OLATHE – The Raven Women's Basketball team handed No. 4-ranked MNU their second loss in Heart play on Monday night.
Trailing by seven with just over three minutes left to play, Benedictine (13-8, 8-7 Heart) went on a 17-0 that not only erased their deficit but pushed them ahead of MNU (16-3, 13-2 Heart) by 10 points before they walked off the floor with a 73-67 win.
The game started off with both teams taking advantage of an offensive run. Benedictine built a five-point lead holding MNU to just one point for nearly four minutes before the Pioneers erased their deficit to build their own five point lead heading into the second quarter.
A pair of free throws from Kayla Staley and a 3-pointer from LaRanda Thomas capped off a quick comeback for the Ravens to start the second quarter as Benedictine regained the lead early in the period. While the Pioneers took back over the lead, they were never able to pull away from the Ravens. The two teams continued to match each other offensively playing through four more ties before Rylee Neill pulled the game even heading to halftime.
Neill was fouled on a 3-point-attempt, which she converted, and then made the ensuing free throw to pull Benedictine even with MNU at the half, 33-33.
MNU opened the second half outscoring Benedictine 13-5 to lead by as much as nine points. Skylar Washington scored five straight to end the third quarter and send the Ravens into the fourth quarter trailing by three points, 50-47.
The Pioneers largest lead of the fourth quarter was seven points, 61-54, and came with just over three minutes left to play. That's when the Ravens turned off the defensive pressure and started their comeback effort. Rachael Baumgartner tied the game with an ol' fashion 3-point play with just under two minutes left to play. As she was connecting on the free throw, MNU head coach Jon Lewis was called for a technical foul. Thomas connected on both free throws to put Benedictine in front for good.
The Rsvens finished the game hitting on 82.4 percent from the free throw line as they knocked in 17 of 21 in the second half. Staley finished with a game high 19 points with 14 rebounds to lead four Ravens in double figures. Baumgartner and Thomas added 14 each while Washington added 12 points off the bench.
Defensively, the Ravens forced the Pioneers into 22 turnovers which led to a 28-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Ravens hosts No. 23 Central Methodist University at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
