Millersville, Pa. -- The Millersville women's basketball team fell to the 2016-17 national runner-ups and current No. 2 Virginia Union 87-43 after the Panthers started the game on a 12-0 run and never looked back.

Virginia Union's full-court press overwhelmed the Marauders from the opening tip-off. The Panthers played fast in transition and forced Millersville mistakes which lead to a 23 point deficit to end the first quarter. Virginia Union followed up their dominant first quarter performance with a 25-10 second quarter that saw the Panthers lead 51-13 at the end of the first half. The Marauders rallied during the third quarter after a long halftime spent in the locker room. Millersville outscored Virginia Union 23-16 during the third but the Virginia Union lead was insurmountable. The Panthers clamped down on defense again in the fourth quarter and held the Marauders to seven points while scoring 20 points.

One of the key differences in the game was Virginia Union's 44 points off of 29 forced turnovers. The Panthers also won the transition battle with 26 fast-break points. Virginia Union's half court zone defense proved problematic as well. Millersville finished the game shooting under 25 percent as the outside shot failed to drop in the Marauders' favor. 

Junior Jade Farquhar lead the team in scoring with 11 points on 60 percent shooting. The guard also shot a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe while registering three assists. Head Coach Mary Fleig got quality minutes from a new face for the second straight game. Freshman Olivia Mottern played 19 minutes while scoring nine points and scooping up six rebounds. Like Farquhar, Mottern was perfect from the free throw line (4-4) in her first minutes as a Marauder. Redshirt junior Kendra Bamberger was a possession away from a double double for the second straight game. The forward scored eight points and corralled 15 rebounds during her 34 minutes on the court.

Millersville has the week off to prepare for their opening game in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play. The Marauders travel to take on Edinboro Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. The Fighting Scots currently sit at 2-0 with their first win of the season coming against Virginia Union. Millersville follows their trip at Edinboro with a trip to Erie to face Mercyhurst Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.