Springfield, Mo. – Evangel women's basketball dropped their final regular season league game to #25 Benedictine 59-41 Saturday at the Ashcroft Center.

The Crusaders struggled out of the gate scoring only five of their 15 first half points in the first 15 minutes of the half.  Evangel shot only 28 percent in the first half going 6 for 21 from the field. Benedictine owned a 32-17 halftime lead.

The Crusaders fought back in the second half cutting the Raven's lead to five with 9:39 remaining on a three-point basket by Braythan Helms.  Benedictine's Jackie Ziesel hit a three 24 seconds later to put the Ravens back up by eight, the closest Evangel would get the rest of the night.

Reggine Brown led the Crusaders with 12 points.  Sophomore Allison Swanson added 8 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

Benedictine was led by Jackie Ziesel and Chayla Rutledge with a game high 15 points and Kristen Murphy added 12 points for the Ravens.

The Crusaders fell to 5-21 on the season and 4-14 in league play.  Benedictine improved to 22-8 and 15-3 in the conference.

Evangel travels to Central Methodist on Monday for the first round of the Heart of America conference tournament.  The Crusaders are seeded ninth and Central Methodist is eighth on the league bracket. Game time is 7:00 p.m. in Fayette, Missouri.