BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Trailing by 13 early in the fourth quarter, No. 8 seed Benedictine Women's Basketball turned up the defensive intensity to earn a comeback win over No. 9 seed Concordia (Neb.) University.
The Ravens outscored the Bulldogs 20-6 in the fourth quarter, holding Concordia to just two field goals while scoring 9 points off 6 turnovers en route to a 62-58 in the 2022 NAIA Women's Basketball Tournament Opening Round presented by Ballogy.
Benedictine advances to play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Campbellsville (Ky.)-Rochester (Mich.) game set to be played tonight.
The Ravens came out ready to play, starting out the game with an 11-0 run inside the first four minutes of the game. The Bulldogs answered with a 22-0 run that not only pulled them even with Benedictine at the end of the first quarter but allowed them to build a 22-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Concordia pulled ahead by as much as 14 late in the second quarter before a pair of Aaliyah Raines free throws cut the deficit to 12, 37-25, at the half.
Ali Brzozowski opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer that pulled the Ravens within 9 points seconds into the period, but the Bulldogs were prepared and pushed their advantage to 16 before taking a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, 52-42.
After a 3-pointer from Concordia's Sadie Powell pushed the Bulldogs lead to 13, Benedictine went inside the spark their comeback. Baskets by Brzozowski and Natalie Smaron in the paint started the Ravens comeback. A 3-pointer from Skylar Washington was answered by a 3-pointer from Kaylee Luebbe with 6:10 remaining in the game. Benedictine held Concordia scoreless the rest of the game as the Ravens scored their next three baskets in the paint, the last of which was made by Brzozowski with just over two minutes remaining to give Benedictine a 59-58 lead.
Raines connected on 3 of 4 at the free throw line in the final seconds of the game to seal with the for the Ravens and give the program their first win in the NAIA postseason since a first-round win in Billings, Mont., in their final trip to the NAIA Div. I National Tournament over Columbia (Mo.) in 2018.
Washington led three Ravens in double figures with 17 points. Brzozowski finished with 13 while Raines added 11. Smaron finished with a game-high 11 rebounds while adding a block and 2 assists.
With the win, the Ravens move to 22-10 marking the eighth time under head coach Chad Folsom the team has earned 22 wins or more.
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