LINCOLN, Neb. – Grinnell College used a big run in the final three minutes to break open a tie game and the Pioneers went on to defeat Nebraska Wesleyan 84-78 in the Prairie Wolves women's basketball 2019-20 season opening game on Friday night (Nov. 15) at Snyder Arena.
 
NWU trailed nearly the entire game, by as many as 12 points, but the Prairie Wolves took their first lead of the second half in flurry during the 4^th quarter.
 
Mikenzie Delgado made a layup to pull NWU within one point, then quickly stole the inbounds pass and found Caitlin Navratil who drained a 3-pointer to give the Prairie Wolves a 73-71 advantage with 3:51 left in the game.
 
From there, the Pioneers (1-1) went on a 10-0 run holding the Prairie Wolves without a point for just over three minutes.  By the time NWU finally scored there were only 21 seconds left in the game and they trailed by six points.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan dug themselves into a deep hole early trailing by ten points in the 1^st quarter.  The Prairie Wolves made only 1-19 from the field (5.3%) in the opening quarter, but they shot 11-12 at the free throw line to stay within striking distance at 19-13 at the end of the period.
 
Grinnell outscored NWU by three points in the 2^nd quarter, hitting 3-6 from 3-point range to take a 44-35 lead into the half.
 
In the third quarter, the Prairie Wolves were able to get as close as one point at 57-56 with 3:11 to play.  NWU scored only one point the rest of the quarter with Grinnell leading 60-57 heading into the final quarter.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman McKenzie Teten cut the Pioneer lead to five with just under seven minutes to play.  Navratil would score eight of the next ten points and gave NWU the lead, but then they went cold allowing Grinnell to seal the win.
 
As a team, NWU shot 30.7 percent from the field and 21.9 from 3-point range.  They were also outrebounded 57-39.  NWU was able to stay close with 13 steals forcing the Pioneers into 27 turnovers.
 
Four Prairie Wolves scored in double figures on the night led by Caitlin Navratil who had a team-high 22 points.  Navratil was 7-19 from the field and 6-7 at the free throw line.  She also had a team-high six assists.
 
McKenzie Teten came off the bench to score 16 points in her first game in a Prairie Wolves uniform.  She was 3-7 from 3-point range and had four steals before fouling out.  Sami Tucker scored 14 poitns with eight rebounds and Mikenzie Delgado finished with 11 points.
 
Grinnell also had four players in double figures led by Tyria Heath who scored 24 points.  Two Pioneers had double-doubles with Kathryn Stender getting 19 points and 10 rebounds, then Kate Tomczik scored 10 points with 11 rebounds.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan is right back in action on Saturday night at 7 pm versus McMurry University from Texas.