Kaylee Patton and Grace women’s basketball opened with a 14-point win at Cornerstone Tuesday night. Photo courtesy the Grace College Sports Information Department

By Josh Neuhart
Grace College Sports Information

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grace’s women’s basketball team was victorious in its season opener, beating Cornerstone 70-56 on the road.

Kiersten Poor enjoyed a career night, pouring in 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on 9-of-15 shooting. Karlee Feldman impressed in her Grace debut, producing a double-double of 17 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists.

Feldman began the season’s scoring with a layup in the opening minute, and Grace led for the rest of the quarter. Poor and Kenzie McMahon both buried triples in the quarter as Grace ended the period ahead 32-18.

Cornerstone opened the second quarter by scoring the first six points to take its only lead of the contest. Grace countered with a 12-0 run to seize control.

The Lady Lancers opened up a double-digit lead and pulled ahead 32-18 at the intermission.

Poor led all players at halftime with 11 points, and Feldman added nine points and six boards. The duo combined to shoot 9-of-12 in the half.

The Golden Eagles were held to 33 percent shooting before halftime while committing 10 turnovers. Grace got to the free throw line effectively with 10 attempts, but the Lady Lancers only made two of those foul shots.

Maddie Ryman connected on a deep 3-pointer to begin the second half, putting Grace ahead by 17. The Lady Lancers maintained a firm grip on the lead, going ahead by as many as 22 late in the third quarter.

Grace still led by 22 with four minutes remaining in regulation, but Cornerstone went down fighting. The Golden Eagles scored eight straight points before consecutive layups from Poor and Feldman iced the victory.

“It was great to play in front of a good crowd again. To play in that type of environment again was awesome,” said Grace head coach Dan Davis. “There are things we will aim to clean up on both sides of the ball, and we will make our free throws going forward and clean up our turnovers. But as a whole I was pleased with our unselfishness, our scoring balance and our defensive intensity. We are thrilled to come out with a road win in the season opener, and we cannot wait to play in front of our home crowd on Saturday.”

Ryman tallied 11 points with four assists, and Peyton Murphy tallied 6 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in her collegiate debut.

Karissa Lukasiewicz, Taylor Cooney, Kensie Ryman and Sally Mortensen all made their collegiate debuts during the victory.

The Lady Lancers shot 47 percent from the floor compared to 37 percent for the Golden Eagles. Grace also drilled 45 percent from beyond the arc (9 of 20).

Both teams struggled at the free throw line with Grace hitting 31 percent (5 of 16) and Madonna making 56 percent (10 of 18).

The Lady Lancers’ home opener is Saturday. Grace will host Madonna at 3 p.m. at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.