CRESSON, Pa. -- The Mount Aloysius College women's basketball team opened the season with a 70-47 loss to visiting Lycoming College on Wednesday night.

Leaders
- Cameron Bates (Fort Pierce, Fla., John Carroll) led the team with 15 points (going 9-of-12 at the free throw line) and eight rebounds, while also snagging four steals.
- Chloe Clemons (Kailua, Hawaii, Kalaheo) recorded eight points and three steals.
- Karissa Mercier (Freedom, Pa., Freedom) contributed eight points, including one three pointer.
- Hailey Drutarosky (Freedom, Pa., Sewickley Academy) chipped in six points, and Molly Richards (Naples, Fla., Naples) came off the bench to dish out a team-high three assists.

How It Happened
- Mercier got the Mounties on the board first with a three-0pointer about one minute into play. Mount Aloysius led 4-3 before Lycoming took over the lead, 5-4, which it would hang on to for the rest of the game. The Mounties were within reach at the end of the quarter, only down 13-7.
- Lycoming began the second quarter with a couple of jumpers, before Bates converted two free throws to make it 17-9. With the score at 19-11 four minutes into the quarter, Clemons got in on the action, scoring a layup and two free throws to keep the deficit under double figures, 22-13. Lycoming increased the lead to ten points and would eventually end the half with that margin, 28-18.
- Lycoming opened the third quarter with a nine-point run, almost doubling its advantage, 37-18. The Mounties cut the lead to sixteen points, 39-23, on two free throws by Bates about halfway through the quarter. However, Lycoming answered with a 10-0 run to increase the gap to 26 points, 49-23, with three minutes remaining in the period. Mount Aloysius went a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe in the final minute of the quarter, but still was down 53-29.
- Behind 61-35 at the 5:24 mark in the final quarter, the Mounties went on an 8-0 run to decrease the advantage to 18 points, 61-43. The Mounties actually won the fourth quarter, 18-17, but could not make up the deficit, eventually falling by a final score of 70-47.

Into the Box Score
- The Mounties had a lot of success at the free throw line, going 16-of-22 for 72.7 percent.
- Mount Aloysius caused 15 Lycoming turnovers, leading to 13 points.
- The Mounties shot 45 percent from the floor in their strong fourth quarter.
- Lycoming's Kami Abdo's 5-of-8 night from long distance and 17 total points proved costly for the Mounties.

Up Next
- Mount Aloysius travels to Baltimore, Md. for the Renie Amoss Memorial Tip-Off Classic this weekend. The Mounties face Arcadia University first on Friday at 7:30 pm, and then they matchup with Neumann University Saturday at 2 p.m.