FAYETTE, Mo. – No. 17 Central Methodist University overcame an early lead by the Raven Women's Basketball team on Saturday to earn an 82-67 win over the Ravens.

Benedictine led by three points after the first quarter before CMU outscored the Ravens 25-14 in the second quarter. It was a deficit the Ravens could never overcome.

Benedictine attacked the paint to start the game, scoring 10 of their 20 first-quarter points in the paint. Central Methodist took away the paint in the second quarter limiting the Ravens to just six points in the paint the rest of the first half as they were able to build as much as a 13-point lead before taking a 42-34 lead into halftime.

The Ravens continued to chip away at their deficit in the third quarter, putting within seven points on a basket in the paint by Ali Brzozowski inside the first two minutes of the quarter. That would be all the closer the Ravens would get as the Eagles pulled ahead by double figures for the final 16 minutes of the game.

Benedictine had one of their more balanced games offensively in recent memory as they finished with five players in double figures. Alleigh Kramer led the team with 12 points while Brzozowski, Sam Brennan, and Twilah Carrasquillo scored 11 points each. Natalie Smaron added 10 points to round out the Ravens double-figure scorers. Benedictine finished the game shooting 72 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 12 of 16 in the second half after knocking in 6 of 9 in the first.

The Ravens finished the game with a total of 28 points in the paint while they held a 23-18 advantage in bench scoring. Saturday's game marked the fifth time that Benedictine matched up with a team ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

Benedictine is scheduled to return home to close out the 2020 portion of their schedule with a pair of games on Dugan Jones Court. They host Heart newcomer Park University at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday before hosting Evangel University at 2 p.m. on Saturday.