The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team continued its impressive late-season play on Sunday, as the Chargers defeated Keuka, one of the top teams in the North Eastern Athletic Conference, 55-51 in Keuka Park, N.Y. The Chargers, winners of five straight, improved to 8-15 overall with the win, and 6-8 in NEAC play, while the Wolves fell to 17-5 overall and 12-2 in conference play.
 
How it Happened: The first half of Sunday's game will not be appearing in any offensive record books any time soon, as the Chargers led just 17-16 after 20 minutes of play. The first quarter featured a stretch of over five minutes with neither team scoring a basket, and the Chargers took a 7-6 lead into the start of the second quarter.
 
The teams both struggled to score throughout the second quarter, though the Chargers got their final four points of the first half from Christine Graves, who put Lancaster Bible ahead, 17-16 with a layup with 14 seconds to play.
 
The offense began to pick up in the third quarter, and as she did on Saturday, Caitlin Hickey led the Chargers, and helped them stay in the game against one of the NEAC's best teams. Hickey's 3-pointer 3:37 into the third quarter put the Chargers ahead by four, 24-20, and late in the quarter, she teamed up with Lizzy Tilton to give Lancaster Bible a chance in the fourth quarter, as Tilton scored the final four points of the quarter, including a jumper with nine seconds remaining.
 
Layups from Mekenzie Smith and Courtney Goyak gave the Chargers a 42-39 lead with 5:49 to play, but Sam Laranjo tied the game, 42-42 with a 3-pointer just 22 seconds later. After the Chargers took another slim lead, Keuka's Abby Hess brought Keuka back to within one, 46-45, but Goyak converted a layup with 2:30 to play to move the Chargers' lead back to three. Goyak hit another layup with 1:01 to play to make it a five-point game, as Lancaster Bible's defense continued to play well for the entire 40 minutes. Things got a little tight for the Chargers down the stretch, but they made just enough free throws to clinch the game, and their fifth straight win.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot 39 percent (23-of-59) from the floor, and just 2-of-8 from 3-point range…The Wolves shot just 27.4 percent (17-of-62) from the field, and 6-of-23 from beyond the arc…Hickey finished with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Tilton added 14 points, five assists and three rebounds…Goyak had another double-double, finishing with 10 points and 22 rebounds, while also adding three assists and three blocks…Graves had four points, three rebounds and two blocks, while Smith had two points, four steals and two boards…Lauren Anten had 15 points to lead the Wolves.
 
The Coach Says: "Another huge win for our program today," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Katelyn Vanderhoff said. "I'm so proud of our team and how we competed. Our defense came up with big stop after big stop, and we held our ground when Keuka made some big plays, and just kept fighting."
 
On the Late Season Play of the Chargers: "I'm not sure if there are many teams that have the grit and the fight to finish the way our team is finishing," Vanderhoff said. "With the way our season started, I'm proud and amazed at how our team is able to focus and their desire to get better."
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible is now 8-2 all-time against Keuka…The Chargers defeated the Wolves, 62-58 in Lancaster last season…Lancaster Bible is now 4-5 in true road games this season, and the Chargers have won three straight contests away from Horst Athletic Center…Goyak now has 1,448 rebounds in her career, the seventh-most in NCAA Division III Women's Basketball history…Hickey has now scored 420 points this season, her third straight season with 400+ points.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible will play its final road game of the season on Wednesday, as the Chargers head to Washington, D.C. to battle Gallaudet at 5 p.m.