DUBUQUE, Iowa – No. 8 Clarke University led wire-to-wire on Saturday against the Raven Women's Basketball team.

(RV) Benedictine struggled to get going offensively against the nationally-ranked Pride and couldn't overcome the slow start as they fell 73-53.

The Pride opened up the game on an 11-0 run before Aaliyah Raines converted the first basket of the game for the Ravens.

After being limited to just 8 points in the first quarter, the Ravens gradually started to get their offense going scoring 16 points in the second quarter to trail by 11 at the half.

Benedictine was never able to cut its deficit below the double figures in the second half as Clarke continued their strong shooting.

The Ravens got a boost offensively off the bench against the Pride as they finished with a 23-15 advantage. While Natalie Smaron led the team with 9 points and 11 rebounds, Raines was one of three players to score 8 points. Skylar Washington and Ali Brozozowski finished with 8 points each to round out the Ravens top scoring.

Benedictine returns home to close out the regular season on Thursday when they host a 5:30 p.m. game against Graceland University.