WINONA LAKE, In. --- The Asbury Women's Basketball team dropped a road game to Grace College, 66-80, Saturday afternoon in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

Despite the loss, Trinity Shearer went for a team high of 16 points. Jaclynn Ruble scored 12 points and Spencer Harvey tallied ten points.

Junior Kayla Harlow advanced the Eagles' effort, contributing 10 rebounds on the afternoon.

Asbury notched it's first field goal 15 seconds into the contest when Shearer collected a rebound and scored a layup off of a fast break. The two sides traded buckets before eight consecutive field goals from Grace broke the Eagle lead, giving the Lancers a 15-6 edge.

The Lancers led by eight points (21-13) at the end of the quarter. Asbury's Shearer led on the offensive end for AU in the quarter putting up five points.

Throughout the second period, both teams continued to rack up points, but the Eagles were unable to close the gap with the Lancers, trailing by 13 points. The Lancers held a 45-32 advantage going into the half. Asbury had six different point contributors in the half, including ten points from Ruble and seven from Shearer. 

The second half of play began by Grace collecting nine consecutive points, promptly putting the Lancers ahead by 22 points (32-54). 

AU connected on two field goals in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter, closing the deficit from 23 to 18. Grace entered the fourth quarter with an 18-point edge, 46-64.
 
In the final quarter of play, the Eagles managed to decrease the gap to 11 points following a 9-0 scoring run that lasted 2:30.

Asbury outscored the Lancers in the final quarter, 20-16, but, it was too little and too late for the Eagles, as Grace continued to claim the lead throughout the remainder of play. 
 
Competing against one of the top teams in the powerful NAIA Crossroads conference, a top conference in the nation, the 66-80 decision drops Asbury's overall record to 0-2 after two hard road contests to start the year.


* Trinity Shearer 16 PTS, 3-3 FT, 4 REB, 3 STL
* Jaclynn Ruble 12 PTS, 5-6 FT, 2 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL
* Spencer Harvey 10 PTS, 5 STL
* Kayla Harlow 9 PTS, 10 REB, 3 BLK


"What a tremendous effort by the team. You don't usually say that in a loss, but this time it's different. First off, Grace is one of the top three or four teams in the Crossroads Conference, which is one of the best conferences in America. Second, when you lose your point guard of four years to an injury to begin the start of the fourth quarter and then battle all the way back to within nine, that's amazing. We had our chance with three minutes to go, but just couldn't get there. That's all I could ever ask of them. I would take this team to battle any day. When we finally start shooting the ball consistently, we are going to be a tough team to play. I was super proud of their effort today."
    Head Coach, Chad Mayes | Women's Basketball


The Eagles will be traveling to Sewanee, Tn., on Tuesday for their next game. This will be their third game of their five away game stretch to begin their season. 


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