(Peru, Neb.) – At the end of the first quarter, the Peru State women's basketball team led by eight over their opponents. The rest of the contest was a close back and forth game for the win against the home team – the Benedictine Ravens.
 
The 'Cats held the lead for the following two quarters by outscoring the Ravens. In the final quarter Peru State was outscored by Benedictine by only six points, but that did not affect the upset by the Bobcats. Peru State eventually won 67-61.
 
With the win, Peru won their fourth game of the season against 23 losses. The Bobcats are 3-20 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (Heart).
 
Benedictine (BC), who was receiving votes in the last coaches' poll, is now 18-11 overall and 13-10 in the Heart.

 
First Quarter Action
 
At the 9:30 mark, the Ravens scored the first two points of the game. But not long after, Brooke Maeda (Honolulu) hit a trey from an assist by Alyssa Marsh-Contreras (Omaha) to pull a one-point lead. At the 7:44 point in the quarter, Marsh-Contreras hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. After a back and forth session, Marsh-Contreras made a fast break lay-up to grab the lead of one at the 5:53 mark. With a rebound and a put back by Giovanna Silva (Brazilia, Brazil), resulted in an and-one that resulted in a four-point lead at the 3:54 mark.
 
With 35 seconds left, Daspin Bruning (Everest, Kan.) grabbed a board resulting in a field goal made by Maeda to cinch the lead of eight at the end of the quarter. Peru State led 18-10.
 
Second Quarter Action
 
With an assist by Bruning, Maeda hit a trey to further the Bobcats' lead at the beginning of the second. At the 5:19 mark Allison Tichy (Bellevue) made a field goal in the paint off of an assist by Marsh-Contreras, to gain a 15-point lead. At the 4:00 point of the first 20 minutes, Silva added two by an assist by Maria Alcantara (Recife, Brazil) to have the biggest lead of the game at 31-15 in favor of the 'Cats.
 
To end the quarter, Benedictine cut their deficit to nine, leaving Peru State with the lead at halftime with a score of 33-24.
 
Third Quarter Action
 
To increase the lead to begin the second half, Claire Cudney (Marysville, Kan.) made a field goal off an assist by Silva to have a lead of 11 at the 9:39 mark. BC started to chip away at the Peru lead, but the Bobcats did not falter. At the 5:55 mark, Cudney made a field goal of an assist by Maeda. Anjanea Simms (St. Louis, Mo.) made a field goal of an assist by Marsh-Contreras at the 1:45 mark making the score 47-40. With 19 seconds left Tichy made a field goal, got fouled, and made the free throw to bring the Bobcats to a 52-40 lead to end the third.
 
Fourth Quarter Action
 
To start the final quarter, the Ravens hit a three-point to cut their deficit to nine, but the Bobcats answered by with a field goal made in the paint by Silva to return the Ravens to an 11-point deficit. At 7:49 left in the last quarter, Silva made two points in the paint off an assist by Cudney bring the score to 56-46.
 
After a couple rebounds made by Silva and Cudney, Tichy hit a trey off an assist by Marsh-Contreras. At the 6:28 mark, Silva again in the paint made a goal off an assist by Marsh-Contreras to bring the biggest lead of the quarter with a score of 61-46.
 
The 'Cats and the Ravens went back and forth while the Ravens tried to chip away at their deficit. With 38 seconds left in the game, Marsh-Contreras hit two double bonus free throws to finalize the score of 67-61 for Peru State.

BENEDICTINE GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
Peru State made 27 of 58 field goals for 46.6% including 6 of 16 from the long range for 37.5%. At the free throw line, the Bobcats hit 7 of 8 of 87.5%. Benedictine made 22 of 60 field goals for 36.7% including 13 of 29 from the long range for 44.8%. At the charity stripe, the Ravens hit 4 of 8 for 50%.
 
The 'Cats had a slight rebounding edge with 39 boards compared to 33 for the Ravens. Benedictine had a couple more assists with 16 compared to 12 for Peru. The Bobcats doubled the number of steals with ten compared to five for Benedictine.
 
Peru committed 18 turnovers while BC committed 16. The Ravens had two blocks and Peru State finished with three.
Individual Statistics
 
Four Bobcats finished in double figures with Marsh Contreras leading the way with 18 points, Tichy with 15, Silva with 13, and Maeda with 10.
 
Silva finished with the double-double as she grabbed a game high rebounds of 14, while Cudney finished with nine, and Madea with five.
 
Marsh-Contreras dished out six assists and Cudney added two. Cudney had two blocks while Tichy blocked one. Marsh-Contreras had four steals while Tichy and Maeda each nabbed two.
 
Upcoming Contests
 
The Bobcats will play their final game of their 18-19 season on Saturday. The 'Cats will be in Dubuque, Iowa, to face Clarke University at noon. The Pride are receiving votes at 19-10 overall and 13-10 in the Heart.