SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 21, 2011) — The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's basketball team overcame sickness, injuries and foul trouble to defeat Grace College 82-65 in a nonconference game Tuesday afternoon in Mabee Gymnasium.

Grace College is ranked 16th in Division II of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the loss drops them to 10-5 for the season.

The win puts the Saints' record at 10-2. They remain at 5-1 in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The team currently sits ½ game behind league-leader Langston University (5-0/11-0).

Right at tipoff, the Saints displayed a physical dominance over the Lancers as demonstrated by Treshenia Solomon at post and Alisha Crump at the forward position. The two accompanied by the NAIA's No. 2 leader at steals, Stacey Darnley, along with Nashae Owens (at right) and Chelsea Solis took the lead early in the game when Solomon netted an easy two points on an assist from Crump. With a little more than 12 minutes left in the half, the Saints were leading 20-6 and were shooting 53 percent from the field, while the Lancers were at 17 percent. The team spent the remainder of the period widening the gap between themselves and Grace College, leading by as much as 20 points, and went into the locker room ahead of Grace College 44-26.

The second half showed more fight from Grace College. The team made a run at the Saints' lead, and succeeded in narrowing the gap between them to 10 points. With about 15 minutes left in the game, the Lancers were outshooting the Saints 17-9. But the momentum did not last very long.  Arlene Cisneros (bottom left) came onto the court and sank three 3-pointers in less than a minute to kick-start  the Saints and help them pull further ahead.  With three minutes remaining in the game, the Saints led by 19 points at 72-53, but their journey back was not an easy feat. Several Saints' players fouled out, including Darnley and Jennifer Davison, while several others were at four. The Saints still ended the game on top 82-65.
 

Solis led the Saints in scoring with 14 points, Owens added 13 points, Cisneros had 11, and Jasmine Fuller recorded 10 points. Darnley had three steals.
 

The Saints shot 76 percent from the free-throw line, made 46 percent of their field goals, and shot 35 percent from the three-point line.
 

Head Coach Rusty Kennedy said that he was "proud" of the women's performance. "I'm pleased with the way they overcame adversity. We had sickness, foul trouble and injuries, but the girls overcame adversity well. I'm extremely happy going into Christmas break."
 

Kennedy hopes the women will use the break to "rest their bumps and bruises, and workout to stay in decent shape."
 

Following the break, the Saints will hit the road on Jan. 2 to play the University of Texas-Pan American.
 

Conference play will resume on Jan. 5, when the Saints take on Texas College at home at 5:30 p.m.