Box Score / Photo Gallery

Philadelphia, Pa. — Offensive struggles have hampered the Millersville women's basketball team lately but with little consequence. On Monday night, those struggles caught up to the Marauders in a 54-35 loss at Holy Family.

The start didn't seem to indicate that the Marauders (7-1) were in for their first defeat of the season. Ashley Moyer drilled a 3-pointer to open the game, while Raquel Green and Gabrielle Styles added buckets to give the visitors an 8-6 lead. The 14 combined points came over the first 10:39, meaning neither team was exactly hot from the floor.

Millersville did do a nice job defensively on Holy Family's (8-1) Catherine Carr. Carr came in averaging over 20 points per contest, but under immense pressure, she managed to shoot just 1-of-4 in the early going, collecting four of the Tigers' first six points. Unfortunately for the Marauders, the offense started to run dry from that point forward. The Black and Gold couldn't find a shot to fall for nearly 11 minutes, while
Holy Family finished the half on a 23-10 run to take a 29-16 lead to the break.

Out of the locker room, Millersville put in a quick charge, cutting the HFU lead to eight, 31-23, within the first five minutes of the period. Green and Moyer each contributed to the 7-2 run, and Jenna Craig finished it off by converting a traditional three-point play with 15:50 to go. It was the closest the Marauders would get to the Tigers', who finished 2008-09 with an 18-0 record in Central Athletic Collegiate Conference (CACC) play.

Another field goal drought of 9:31 allowed the Tigers to pounce, which they did with a 13-2 run to seal Millersville's fate. Sophia Waters ended the run with a 3-pointer, but it was MU's only long range conversion of the second half, as the team collectively shot 1-of-11 in the final 20 minutes from beyond the arc.

A late rally wasn't enough to put a scare into HFU's lead. Aurielle Mosley, Aiesha Bellamy, and Emily Balogh helped the Marauders cut the Tigers' lead from 19 to 12 in a matter of 3:07. Holy Family, which was 21-of-28 at the charity stripe in the contest, knocked down free throws when it mattered, however, and pushed the final margin to 19.

The Black and Gold held Carr just under her season average, allowing her to score 18 points, which led all scorers. Carr was, however, just 5-of-14 from the floor. Meghan Gibson added 12 points and Lindsey Tennett scored nine off of Mark Miller's bench to pace the Tigers. Millersville, meanwhile, didn't have a single double figure scorer. Moyer and Waters had eight apiece, while Balogh, Green, and Craig scored four each. MU managed to shoot just 23.5-percent from the field (12-of-51) and posted the same futility from 3-point range (4-of-17). More importantly, the Marauders lost 14 points at the line, where they were just 7-of-15 for the evening.

Craig grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, but rebounds were tough to come by for the rest of the squad, as HFU out-boarded MU 43-29, holding a 16-13 edge in offensive rebounds. The Tigers cashed in by outscoring Millersville 17-5 in second chance points.

The Marauders take a much needed holiday break before returning to action December 30 at the University of the District of Columbia. MU downed UDC 69-33 to open the 2009-10 season. Game time from UDC next Wednesday is set for 2 p.m.