Des Moines, Iowa – Evangel women’s basketball fell behind 22-3 in the first quarter and never recovered in a 63-49 loss at Grand View on Saturday.
The Crusaders endured a nightmare first quarter trailing 22-5 at the end of the first period. They trailed 34-20 at halftime and pulled as close as 12 points of the lead in the fourth quarter but missed on opportunities to get closer as Grand View held them off for the win.
Allison Swanson led Evangel scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 32 minutes. No other Crusader scored in double digits, with Alison Jarrell coming closest with seven points.
Grand View was led by Taylor Nashert with 16 points and Annie Penquite chipped in 13.
With the loss, Evangel’s record drops to 5-12 and 4-8 in the Heart of America conference. Grand View improved to 8-10 and 5-7 in the conference.
Evangel returns to the Ashcroft Center for the first of two home games next week on Wednesday. The Crusaders host current conference leader Central Methodist Wednesday with tipoff at 5:30pm.
