WINONA LAKE – Apparently Scott Blum’s message was heard loud and clear.

After a very poor start to its eventual loss Wednesday night in Grace College’s opener to Emmanuel, the Lady Lancers turned up the pressure and blew out Yellowstone Christian, 80-34, in the consolation bracket of the NCCAA Women’s Basketball National Championships.

Leading just 15-11 in the first quarter, Grace snapped out of its early funk. A compelling 25-5 run to close the first half had Grace heat up from three-point land, as well as ratchet up the defensive intensity. A fast break bucket by Micaela Box started the run, which had the Lancers bust out a 14-0 run, 10 of those points coming off Yellowstone turnovers. Brooke Sugg and Vironnica Drake each hit a pair of threes in the first-half run, helping the Lancers take a 40-16 lead into the break.

“We knew our intent today was to come out focused and engaged and we challenged them to play for pride and some heart,” said Blum. “That second group gave us a little bit of a jumpstart to help fuel that run. I know some of the girls were pretty upset about not getting the win last night, and it’s always tough to move on in the tournament after a loss takes you out of a championship scenario.

“We just want to finish the season strong.”

The Centurions, the No. 8 seed from Billings, Mont., would turn the ball over 21 times in the first half and a miserable 34 times in the game. Grace would flip its additional opportunities into 41 points, more than enough to get into the fifth-place game Friday against Hiwassee.

Grace (19-16) had Drake again lead the club with 16 points and added four rebounds and three steals. Sugg hit four three-pointers to finish with 12 points and contributed five steals. Rachel Montgomery came off the bench to chip in 10 points, seven boards, three assists and a pair of steals and Kelsie Peterson and Box each ended with nine points. Grace had 11 players score at least one basket in the victory.

“Rachel was set to start for us last year and had the foot injury and missed the rest of the year,” Blum said of Montgomery. “She missed her entire freshman year, and that’s tough to learn on the fly without the experience. The Rachel we saw today was the one that I was hoping to see all year. She gave us a great game today and I’m happy to see her getting some of that confidence back.”

The Centurions (12-15) had Paige Gregory lead the team with 13 points and six rebounds while Jayda Hinton tossed in nine points and three steals.

The Lancers will host Hiwassee at 5 p.m. Friday with a chance to make a little history. With a win, Grace would reach the 20-win mark for only the second time in program history, matching the 2011-12 team that went 20-15 and finished third in the NCCAA tournament. That season, Grace managed its only first-day win in its NCCAA tourney history.

“We just have to prepare the same as we have for our final game,” stated Blum. “Our goal now is to tie the single-season wins record, just the second team ever to do that. It’s a great opportunity for the girls to be a part of that, and something to shoot for.”

Hiwassee 80, Southwestern Christian 72 OT

The seventh-seeded Hiwassee outscored Southwestern 21-10 in the third quarter, but watched its lead disappear as the Eagles mounted a huge rally in the fourth. A pair of free throws by Hiwassee’s J’Lynn Majors with 12 seconds left tied the game at 66. The Tigers would then score 10 of the first 12 points in overtime to pull away.

Majors finished with 20 points for the Tigers (20-11), with teammate Ny’Asia Holmes scoring a game high 22 points to go with 17 rebounds. Ashley Poole added 15 points and Valerie Cheek chipped in 10 points and eight boards.

For Southwestern (13-19), Makenzie Janz led the team with 15 points, with Carley Frymine and Kylee Vestal with 13 points each. Eliora Johnson had a double-double of 11 points and 11 boards and Amy Tully added 10 points.

The winners bracket has Greenville meeting Concordia and Mid-America Christian taking on Emmanuel in tonight’s action at Grace College.