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FAYETTE, Mo. - Nakia Robinson tallied 22 of her career-high 26 points after halftime, and No. 3-seed Central Methodist erased a 10-point deficit to defeat No. 6-seed Graceland (Iowa) 84-74 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.
The Yellowjackets left Puckett Fieldhouse on Thursday with a loss for the second time in seven days and have lost five-straight in the series
Central Methodist (22-8) trailed 34-24 following a trey by Sydney Vaughn of Graceland (11-15) at the 6:12 mark of the first half before countering with a 13-0 run. Morgan Vetter canned two of her four first-half buckets from distance to highlight the spurt, and two Taylor Cornelison free throws gave the Eagles a 37-34 advantage with 2:20 on the clock.
Graceland's Yvetter Bennett and Central Methodist's Jesse Ellis traded jumpers down the stretch, and the Eagles took a 39-36 advantage into halftime.
The Yellowjackets opened the first 5:47 of the second half outscoring the Green and Black 15-6 to take a six-point edge before the Robinson exploded offensively. The senior guard made the first of her four second-half treys to cut her team's deficit to 51-48 at the 12:49 mark. Bennett scored the next five points as the Yellowjackets assumed an eight-point edge, but the Eagles answered with a 14-2 run, capped by consecutive three-pointers from Robinson, and would never trail again during the remaining 8:55. After Graceland tied the contest, Robinson drilled another three with 6:18 to play to make the score 65-62 and give her team the lead for good.
Robinson's trey ignited a 9-0 spurt to put the game out of reach. The Eagles stretched their advantage to as many as 11 points, 78-67, after Vetter nailed her fifth and final three-pointer with 1:18 on the clock.
Robinson was 6-of-11 from the field, 4-of-7 from distance and 10-of-10 from the line. She added a game-high six assists and four rebounds.
Vetter finished with 17 points and had 12 before the break. Kyra Williams ended with 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Ellis scored eight points and pulled down five boards in the win. Cornelison had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Burgandie Lewis had nine rebounds.
Kiara Cain recorded a team-high 16 points in the loss. Gabrielle Lapinski had 13. Vaughn and Anattanisha Moton each tallied 10.
The Eagles outrebounded the Yellowjackets 49-36 and scored 14 fastbreak points. The Green and Black shot 14-of-16 from the charity stripe in the final 20 minutes and 24-of-31 overall.
Central Methodist travels to No. 2-seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) on Saturday for the semifinals. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.
