Women's Basketball completed a dramatic comeback at home Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Heart Women's Basketball Championship.
The Ravens overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the William Penn University Statesmen 83-76.
Down 9 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Ravens chipped away at Penn's lead. Natalie Smaron scored in the paint to cut the deficit to 7, then Aaliyah Raines knocked down a jumper, followed by an inside score by Skylar Washington. Sam Brennan's 3-pointer pulled the Ravens to within 1 point with 6:20 to play, but the Statesmen answered with their own 3-pointer to push the lead back to 4 points. After free throws by Washington and Alleigh Kramer again pulled the Ravens to within a single point, it was Smaron's basket inside that gave the Ravens a 72-71 lead with 4 minutes to play. It was the Ravens first lead since early in the second quarter, and they never relinquished it the rest of the game. The Ravens closed the game out on a 17-5 run to send them to the semifinals of the Heart Women's Basketball Championship.
The first quarter saw plenty of action as each team made a run. The Ravens took an early 12-5 lead, but the Statesmen answered with four 3-pointers as they took a 20-16 lead late in the period. Baskets by Washington and Ali Brzozowski leveled the score 20-20 after the opening 10 minutes.
Penn was red hot in the second quarter, building a 13-point halftime lead. WPU entered Wednesday's contest averaging 7.8 made 3-pointers per game – they bested that mark by halftime, hitting 8-of-12 in the opening 20 minutes. They were just as hot inside the 3-point line, finishing the first half with 70.8% shooting from the floor.
The Ravens, on the other, struggled outside the arc. While they shot 43.8% from the floor in the first half, the Ravens were just 2-14 from 3-point range.
The Ravens found themselves down by as many as 16 points in the third quarter but closed the gap to 67-58 heading into the fourth quarter. Heather Ronnebaum knocked down a 3-pointer and a free throw to help the Ravens cut the Penn lead to single digits, then the Ravens exploded in the fourth quarter, out-scoring Penn 25-9 to secure the win.
The Ravens depth played a role in the team's ability to close out the game. Nine different players saw at least 13 minutes of action for the home team, while Penn relied heavily on seven players. After the scorching hot first half, the Statesmen struggled in the second half, shooting 30.4 percent from the field. The Ravens thrived in the second half, shooting 64 percent overall and knocking down 5-9 3-pointers. The Ravens also had 19 bench points while Penn had 1 point from its bench.
Washington had a team-high 23 points, followed closely by Smaron's 20 points and six rebounds. Brennan scored 13 and dished out three assists, and Brzozowski had 8 points and 11 rebounds.
The Ravens will face Clarke University in Friday's semifinal contest. The Pride defeated the Ravens 73-53 in the team's first matchup this season.
#UnleashGreatness
