Grace’s Haley Richardson defends during a 48-46 home win over IUSB Wednesday night (Photo provided by the Grace College Sports Information Department)

WINONA LAKE – The Grace College women’s basketball claimed its first victory of the season 48-46 over IU-South Bend on Wednesday night.

The Lady Lancers (1-1) made a pivotal charge in the third quarter to swing momentum their way and made a defensive stop at the buzzer to hold on for the two-point win.

Grace’s offense struggled throughout the contest, shooting just 29 percent from the floor. Offense was even harder to come by in the first half for Grace as the team hit 21 percent on field goals and 2-of-16 from beyond the arc.

The Titans (1-1) held Grace to eight points and seven points respectively over the first two quarters and led 27-15 at halftime. Grace had a major scoring slump in the second quarter and did not dent the scoreboard for over six minutes before Maycee Davis converted a steal and fastbreak layup.

Coach Scott Blum’s adjustments at halftime seemed to work, however, as the Lady Lancers came out firing in the second half. Gabby Miller and Jenna Kieper drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to start the half, and a Jesse Feitz layup cut the Titans’ margin to four. IU-South Bend burned an early timeout less than two minutes into the quarter, but Grace’s momentum continued.

A fastbreak layup from Haley Richardson gave Grace its first lead of the night at 29-28. Overall for the period Grace outscored IU-South Bend 17-5, and the teams entered the final period tied 32-32.

The fourth quarter was won by new faces to Grace’s lineup. Grace’s final 14 points of the game were scored by newcomers. Lauren Godfrey hit a pair of free throws, and Richardson hit a jumper to put Grace ahead 38-36. The Titans scored four straight to go up by two, but Brooke Sugg buried a trey to give Grace the lead. 

Pam Miller hit two shots—the last of which gave Grace the lead for good at 45-44 with 3:04 on the clock. On Grace’s next possession, Sugg drained a stepback 3-pointer to make the score 48-44 with 2:16 remaining.

IU-South Bend was held to one made shot for the remainder of the game and lost by two. The Titans had possession for the final play of the game, misfired and grabbed an offensive rebound. Grace then deflected the next two inbounds passes, and the Titans were unable to get a shot off over the final frantic six seconds.

Fourteen players saw the court for Grace with 11 of those registering in the scoring column. Sugg went for nine points on 3-of-6 shooting on 3’s to lead Grace, and Richardson tallied eight points and six rebounds. Sarah Feasby tallied five points and nine rebounds, and Pam Miller was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting for six points.

Grace forced the Titans into 20 turnovers. Grace was also strong with the ball with 11 turnovers, including four in the second half.

The Lady Lancers hit the road on Saturday with a trip to IU-Northwest for a 4 p.m. tipoff.