Women's Basketball lost a hard-fought battle at home Saturday afternoon.
The (RV) Ravens lost to the (RV) Grand View University Vikings, 82-70, in overtime.
Entering overtime tied 65-65, the Ravens struggled to get things going offensively in the extra period. The Vikings didn't have the same issue, surging out to a 76-65 lead and earning the 12-point win.
The Ravens held a 50-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Vikings had a 4-point lead late in the contest. Natalie Smaron pulled the Ravens closer by hitting two free throws to trim the Vikings lead to 65-63. The Vikings Maddie Ahlstrom was fouled on the other end of the floor and missed both free throws to leave the door open for the home side.
With the Ravens down 2 points, Alleigh Kramer was fouled on a drive to the basket and hit two free throws with 15 seconds on the clock to level the score, 65-65. Defensively, the Ravens did a great job of not letting Shannon Pisney get a good look at the basket. Pisney's shot glanced off the side of the backboard and the teams headed to overtime.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, overtime belonged to the Vikings. The visitors scored the first 11 points of the extra period and went on to win by 12. Pisney finished with a game-high 34 points.
Leading the Ravens was Natalie Smaron with 16 points and seven rebounds. Twilah Carrasquillo added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Skylar Washington had 11 points.
The Ravens shot 32.9% from the field and had 46 rebounds. The Vikings finished the game shooting 40.9% with 47 rebounds. Both teams had 18 turnovers.
The Vikings took a 10-2 lead early in the contest as they got the Ravens in a hurry, leading to turnovers. The Ravens settled down as the first quarter continued and trimmed the Grand View lead to 19-14 after 10 minutes of play.
The Ravens had four turnovers in the opening quarter, and shot 38.5% from the field. The Vikings also had four turnovers as both teams tried to create havoc on their opponents. GVU shot 50% from the field in the first quarter.
Both teams' defenses were stout in the second quarter as the Vikings took a 31-23 lead into halftime. The Ravens shot 29% from the field in the first half, knocking down 2-of-6 from outside. The Vikings were 38.7% from the field and hit 4-10 from behind the 3-point line.
The Ravens had 10 turnovers in the first half, with the Vikings turning the ball over nine times.
The Ravens put together a great third quarter, out-scoring the Vikings 27-18 to take a 50-49 lead into the fourth quarter. With 2:27 to play in the third, Heather Ronnebaum poked the ball away from a Vikings player, received the outlet pass and was fouled on her fast-break layup. The resulting free throw gave the Ravens a 47-46 lead – their first of the game. They carried a 1-point lead into the fourth quarter before falling in overtime.
Next up for the Ravens (13-6, 11-4 Heart) will be a Wednesday, Feb. 3 road contest at Peru State College.
