Women's Basketball drops first game of Picirilli Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Great Lakes Christian College women's basketball hung tough but couldn't end their losing streak on day one of the Robert E. Picirilli Classic at Boyce College, dropping a 71-57 decision to Welch College in their first regional game of the season.

Welch opened the game on a 10-0 run and while GLCC kept the game within reach for a while, they never took back that initial lead. Trailing by nine after the first, Great Lakes cut the margin to three in the second and trailed 33-28 at halftime.

GLCC would never get closer as Welch slowly extended its lead in the second half, building it up to 18 in the fourth and claiming the win.

Mystic Striker led Great Lakes with 20 points and eight rebounds. Sakura Nakano scored 11 and Allazae Lloyd registered five blocks.

Abby Bragg led the way for Boyce, scoring a game-high 36 points on 14/26 (53.8%) shooting. Macey Bowman scored 19 points and both players grabbed nine rebounds.

GLCC had one of its better shooting performances of the season, making 23 of 52 attempts from the floor (44.2%). While Welch struggled shooting (25/74, 33.8%), it was turnovers and rebounding that did in Great Lakes. Welch collected 12 more rebounds (47-35) and committed nine fewer turnovers (25-16), which resulted in a game-defining field goal attempt disparity.

GLCC will face NCCAA DII #5 Grace Christian on day three of the Classic on Saturday.