GRINNELL,  Iowa - In what will surely prove to be one of the biggest nail-biters for the Grinnell College women's basketball team this season, the Pioneers came up just shy against Beloit College Tuesday night.

The teams battled back and forth for four quarters and then into overtime before the Buccaneers emerged with a 72-71 victory in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams at Darby Gymnasium.

Grinnell (2-4, 0-1 MWC) grabbed a 15-14 lead by the end of the first period, but Beloit rallied to lead 35-32 at halftime and 48-42 by the end of three quarters.

But the Pioneers refused to fold. After the teams traded baskets to open the fourth quarter, Nora Lynch '28 drained a 3-pointer and Cassidy Pak '28 made two free throws to bring the Pioneers within a point. Georgia Patterson '29 followed with a trey to put Grinnell ahead 52-50 with 6:08 left. The Pioneers kept it up, taking a 61-56 lead with just over two minutes remaining before a late rally by Beloit (3-4, 1-0 MWC) forced a 63-all tie to bring the contest into overtime.

Grinnell built a 68-65 lead early in the extra period with the aid of Ava Wu's '29 traditional three-point play. After that it was a tug of war before the Buccaneers hit a trey with 4 seconds left to rally from a 71-69 deficit for the victory.

Lynch led the Pioneers with a career-best 17 points, while Carolyn Pierce '27 and Pak '28 had 10 each. Juniper Schwartzman '27 led Grinnell with eight rebounds and Skylar Thomas '26 dished out four assists and also had three steals.

Grinnell had a strong performance at the free throw line, hitting 26-of-32 shots. The 26 made free throws are the ninth-best in GC history.

The Pioneers travel to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Tournament this weekend.