Pride's complete team game leads to runaway win over Graceland

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Returning to their home floor for their first rematch game in the Heart of America Athletic Conference in the 2025-26 season, the Clarke University women's basketball team took it to Graceland University on Wednesday night at the Kehl Center to the tune of a 84-62 victorious final score.

It was a dominant first half that saw the hosts jump out to a 15-3 lead over the opening 6:27 of the game to eventually finish the first quarter up 24-7 before entering the halftime break up 29 points at 51-22 after grabbing their largest lead of the game of 51-20 less than a minute prior the halftime buzzer after a pair of Abby Hollis free throws.

The second half was a move balanced matchup at 17-17 in the third quarter then the Yellowjackets producing a 23-16 fourth quarter primarily against a mostly bench lineup for head coach Adam Hocking, allowing the entirety of the active roster to step onto the floor in their first home conference game since Dec. 13.

The starting unit, that was able to produce the strong start of the Pride, saw another quality offensive performance from Hailey Walters as the Sterling, Ill. native finished her third-straight game with 17 or more points with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-15 (46.7%) shooting from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from three point range.

Josie Potts and Zoe Kennedy also had double digit scoring nights as Potts produced 12 and six assists while Kennedy had one of her lighter workload games over the last season and a half she's had in Dubuque but still produced a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Reese Ryan was one point shy of a double-double of her own at nine points, 12 rebounds, three assists, a steal, and three blocked shots.

Hollis was one of five players off of the CU bench to produce a field goal in the game as she went 2-for-3 (66.7%) from three point range along with her two free throws towards the end of the second quarter for an eight-point game, Breckan Stewart led the bench scoring with 11 points while adding four rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a blocked shot, Jessica Morgan scored eight points, both Rachel Lind and Mya McNeil made a two-point field goal each, and Lauren Stone knocked down a free throw to round out the bench scoring.

Currently on a three-game winning streak, Clarke women's basketball will host another game on Saturday, Jan. 10 to wrap up their winter break portion of their schedule before spring semester classes start with a 12:00 p.m. CT scheduled tip against Benedictine College in the Kehl Center.