Women's Basketball earned an important win at home Saturday afternoon.
The Ravens knocked off the Mount Mercy University Mustangs 67-60, leading from start to finish.
After holding a 5-point lead at halftime, the Ravens and Mustangs played an even third quarter to head into the fourth quarter with the Ravens on top, 47-42.
The Mustangs were never able to fully close the gap on the Ravens, despite their best efforts. Down by 7 with under 4 minutes to play, the Mustangs scored 4 quick points to get within one possession, but the Ravens answered with a 7-0 run to move back in front by 10 points.
The point distribution told a significant story Saturday afternoon. The Ravens had three players in double-digits: Lauryn Dubbert scored 14, and Aaliyah Raines and Jennifer Jacobs each had 11 points, plus Alleigh Kramer scored 9 points. The Mustangs were led by Madison Dreckman's 23 points, but no other MMU player hit double-digits.
The first half was solid for the Ravens as they took an 18-10 lead after one quarter of play. A pair of 3-pointers helped the Mustangs close the gap to 20-18 early in the second quarter, but the Ravens rattled off an 8-0 run to push their lead back to 10 points.
MMU again chipped away at the Ravens lead, but the home side took a 32-27 lead into halftime. It was nearly closer as the Mustangs looked to have an easy layup just before the halftime buzzer, but Riley Rottinghaus blocked the shot – her second block of the first half. As a team, the Ravens blocked 6 shots in the opening 20 minutes and finished with 7 blocks in the game.
The Ravens finished the game outrebounding the Mustangs 42-41 and had seven different players grab 4 rebounds or more. Kramer led the Ravens with 5 assists, and Raines and Dubbert each dished out 3 assists.
The Ravens defense was strong, holding the Mustangs to 34.9% shooting and just 26.3% from 3-point range. In their loss to the Mustangs on Jan. 6, MMU converted 53% of their shots from deep.
Entering Saturday, the Ravens held a 2-game lead over the Mustangs for third place in the Heart of America standings, and just a 1-game lead over MidAmerica Nazarene University. The top-four teams earn home games in the Heart Postseason Championship and Saturday's win locks up a home game for the Ravens as they can finish no lower than fourth.
The Ravens (18-8, 16-6 Heart) will close out their regular season home schedule with the Heart's No. 2 team, Grand View University, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21.
