WINONA LAKE – The Grace College women’s basketball team put forth a valiant effort Wednesday night.

The hosts, in the end however, could not quite overcome the top-seeded  team in the NCCAA Championships.

The eighth-seeded Lancers could also not overcome several very crucial and highly-quetionable calls from a very shaky officiating crew.

Lee seized the momentum late in the game to post a 66-58 victory in first-round play in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.

Grace (17-16) will play Oklahoma Christian in the consolation bracket Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

Lee  (23-4) advances to face Roberts Wesleyan Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

The 1-2 punch of Juaneice Jackson and Allison Kauffman turned in brilliant performances for the Lancers. Senior Jackson netted a game-high 27 points, while junior Kauffman had 20 and eight rebounds.

It was a highly-questionable offensive foul call on Kauffman with 4:24 left in the contest that proved to make a big difference.

Grace trailed just 53-48 at the time before the call wiped out a basket by Kauffman.  Lancer coach Scott Blum, already agitated and animated by several calls that went against his team, ripped off his jacket and was tagged with a technical foul. Lee senior star Hollie German hit two free throws on the technical and then added a layup on the ensuing possession to make it 57-48 to cap an 8-0 run.

“That was a big turnaround on the technical,” said Blum, adding that he took his jacket off following the controversial call. “The whole momentum changed with one call. I thought the calls put us out of our rhythm.  That was probably a bad technical at the time to get.

“I have to control my emotions. You have to keep your cool and I lost mine. I apologize to our girls because I expect them to keep their cool and fight through it, but it’s hard sometimes in a situation like that.”

“But, I’m very proud of my girls. They gave themselves an opportunity to win this game. Lee is a very good team.”

The opening half was close throughout. The biggest lead was a five-point advantage by Lee at 16-11 and 24-19. The Lancers, led by Jackson, closed the half on a 9-5 run to pull within 29-28 at intermission.

German, who led her team with 23 points in just 22 minutes of playing time, had just seven in the opening half while only playing about nine minutes due to foul trouble. The 5-8 guard, who was averaging 24 ppg., overcame a tough 6-15 shooting night (0-6 on threes) by going 11-11 from the free throw line for the winners.

The Flames inched ahead to take a 47-40 lead on a trey by Jenna Adams with 11:20 to play. Lee did it with German sitting on the bench after picking up her fourth foul and exiting with 15:40 left. The Lancers then answered with an 8-4 run to pull within 51-48 on a rebound bucket by Jackson with 5:15 remaining. That was as close as the hosts would get however.

Lee won the game thanks to a 30-18 edge in points in the paint and a 24-15 advantage in points off turnovers. Grace committed 22 turnovers in the game.

“The difference were their points in the paint, which I didn’t expect, and the points off our turnovers,” Blum said. “We knew our focus had to be on German. She was averaging 24 points a game. We had to be in her face and make it tough on her and I thought we did that. We did exactly what we needed to do on their 3-point shooting (Lee was 5-21 on 3-pointers).

“The 1-2 punch of Juaneice and Allison has been typical of our year. We needed that third person tonight. But, we’re young.”

Freshman Chloe Pridgen had four points, sophomore Kelsey Sule three and sophomore Gabby Bryant and junior Lindsey Schaefer two each for Grace.

Junior Jenna Adams had 13 points and nine rebounds for Lee. Senior Myriah Iles had 10 points, senior Rachel Lockhart nine and junior Madison Lee eight.

Grace shot 17-45 overall from the field, including 5-13 on threes. The Lancers were 19-27 from the free throw line.

Lee finished the contest 21-64 from the field, including 5-21 from distance. The Flames were 19-24 from the line and had 13 turnovers.

Lee spent the majority of the season at No. 1 in the NCCAA poll. The Flames are in their first year of competition in NCCAA Division II  and won the Gulf South Conference title at 18-2. The Flames entered tourney play with an amazing 111-18 mark the last four years under coach Marty Rowe.

German, who was a first-team NAIA All-American before the Flames moved to NCCAA Division II this year, has scored over 2,000 career points.