DUBUQUE, Iowa – For the fifth time in 12 games this season, No. 6 Clarke University hit over 50 percent from the floor en route to a win.
This time around, it came at the hands of the Raven Women who fell to the nationally-ranked Pride 77-63.
Benedictine trailed 18-13 at the end of the third quarter. Josie Weishaar connected on a 3-pointer to open the second quarter to cut the Ravens deficit to two points only to see the Pride answer with a 9-0 run to pull ahead by 10 points.
Clarke limited Benedictine to just four field goals in the second quarter to pull away from the Ravens and take a 43-26 lead into halftime. Kennedy Nicholson finished the second quarter with 8 of the Ravens 13 points hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
After the Pride extended their lead to 21 points early in the third quarter, Aaliyah Raines go the scoring started for Benedictine with back-to-back basics. Benedictine finished the quarter with 16 points, but couldn't do anything to cut into Clarke's lead.
Benedictine outscored Clarke 21-16 in the final 10 minutes of the game, which included holding the Pride scoreless over the final two minutes of the game, That defense effort combined with a 6-0 run to end the game allowed the Ravens to cut their deficit down to 14 by the end of the game after trailing by as much as 24 earlier in the quarter.
Raines and Nicholson finished with 11 points each to lead the Ravens in scoring. Benedictine won the battle on the boards, outrebounding Clarke 35-29. That number also led to a 15-3 advantage in second-chance points as Benedictine finished with 12 offensive rebounds.
Clarke finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the floor while matching Benedictine with 6 3-pointers. They scored 32 points in the paint while scoring 13 points off 17 Benedictine turnovers.
Benedictine heads the holiday break with an overall record of 5-7 while sitting at 3-4 in Heart play. They return to action on Dec. 30 at 5:30 p.m. as they host William Woods University before returning to Heart play with three straight conference games at home beginning with No. 4 Central Methodist University at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 4.
