Big 4th quarter sends Grinnell women to 3rd win in a row

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GRINNELL, Iowa –  History repeated itself for the Grinnell College women's basketball team Wednesday night.

 

Four days after using a big fourth quarter to rally for a victory, the Pioneers duplicated that feat as they outscored Monmouth College 23-15 in the final 10 minutes for a 62-60 win at Darby Gymnasium.

 

The Pioneers have now won three games in a row and clinched their fifth consecutive win over Monmouth.

 

Tyria Heath '21 had a big game for the Pioneers, scoring a team-high 19 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range and coming up with two steals.

 

Kayla Morrissey '18 nearly had another double-double, posting 13 points and nine rebounds along with a career-high six assists and two steals. Morrissey now has 535 career boards to move up to sixth on the Pioneers' career chart.

 

Regan Kasprak '19 added 14 points, Mikayla Kricfalusi '20 grabbed five rebounds and Margaret Giles '18 blocked two shots.

 

Hanna Kessel '19 had four assists and three steals, both career-bests.

 

Grinnell evened its Midwest Conference record at 4-4 while moving to 7-6 overall, while Monmouth fell to 2-6 in the league and 5-10 in all games.

 

Grinnell led 16-15 after one period, fell behind 34-25 by halftime and closed the gap to one in the third period before losing ground and trailing 45-39 at the end of the frame.

 

After falling behind by seven at the start of the fourth quarter, the Pioneers went to work with the aid of 66.7 percent shooting (8-of-12) in the period while holding the Fighting Scots to 38.5 percent (5-of-13).

 

Morrissey hit a 3-pointer to bring Grinnell within four, and Monmouth countered with a basket.

 

That was followed with an 11-point spurt as Kessel made a 3-pointer, Heath two free throws and Kasprak a jumper to push the Pioneers ahead 49-48. Morrissey and Kricfalusi each added layups to make it a 53-48 game with 4:57 left. Kessel also had two steals during the spurt and Kricfalusi a block.

 

Monmouth came back and took leads of 58-56 and 60-58, but Heath delivered a crushing blow as she swished a 3-pointer from the right wing with :37 left to put the Pioneers ahead 61-60.

 

Giles blocked a shot on Monmouth's next possession and Morrissey pulled in the rebound. Kasprak was later fouled and made a free throw for a 62-60 lead with 8 seconds to go.

 

The Fighting Scots missed a jumper in the waning seconds and Morrissey rebounded as time expired, sending the Pioneers into celebration.

 

Grinnell hits the road for a MWC contest Saturday at Ripon College. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.