The Lancaster Bible College women's basketball team lost its fourth straight game on Saturday, falling to St. Elizabeth, 57-49 at Horst Athletic Center. The Chargers are now 2-5 overall and 0-2 in North Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Eagles improved to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in NEAC action.
 
Game Recap: St. Elizabeth jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first 90 seconds, as Damaris King and Kamille Jacobs hit back-to-back shots, but the Chargers responded thanks to two 3-pointers from freshman Hope Hodges and a three-point play from senior Courtney Goyak, and tied the game at 9-9 with 5:39 to play in the opening quarter.
 
Lancaster Bible took its first lead a short time later, and extended the advantage to 16-12 with 1:03 to play on a 3-pointer from freshman Sonja Nelson. The Eagles answered right back with a 3-pointer of their own, and the Chargers led by one, 16-15 after 10 minutes of play.
 
The Chargers led by four points on several occasions throughout the second quarter, including 23-19 after a jumper from junior Caitlin Hickey. St. Elizabeth cut into the Chargers' lead, and eventually took a 24-23 lead on a 3-pointer from Rakiyah Sellers with 3:21 to play. The Chargers tied the game 20 seconds later on a free throw from Christine Graves, but St. Elizabeth retook the lead, and led, 27-26 at the break.
 
St. Elizabeth opened the second half on a 6-0 run, as Deja Ingram had four of the six points and gave the Eagles a 33-26 lead 2:13 into the half. Jumpers from Sonja Nelson and Goyak, followed by a free throw from Goyak, cut the deficit to two, but the Eagles hit two straight buckets to increase their lead back to six. The Eagles led by as many as nine late in the third quarter, but a late 3-pointer from Hodges cut the deficit to six, 42-36, after 30 minutes of play.
 
The teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, as the Chargers couldn't get any closer than six. The Chargers finally closed the gap to four, 49-45, after a 3-pointer from Mekenzie Smith, but back-to-back buckets again by St. Elizabeth restored its lead to eight. Lancaster Bible cut into its deficit again with under a minute to play, as Hickey converted a layup with 50 seconds to play, but the Eagles used all of the shot clock and then got a jumper from Ingram to go, and effectively ended the game.
 
By the Numbers: Lancaster Bible shot a season-worst 25 percent (17-of-68) from the floor, including 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from 3-point range…St. Elizabeth shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field, including 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc…Goyak had 11 points and 21 rebounds for the Chargers, while Hickey had 10 points and six boards…Hodges added nine points, while Nelson had seven points and two assists…Ingram had 16 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks for the Eagles.
 
The Coach Says: "We have times where we do good things, but then we make a mistake, and can never really get the momentum we need," Lancaster Bible Head Coach Katelyn Vanderhoff said. "We just aren't consistent enough to win games right now. I thought Leah and Sonja were aggressive offensively, so that is good going forward, so we just need to get everyone on the same page, and start playing with more consistency."
 
Information Hodge Podge: Lancaster Bible is now 13-3 all-time against St. Elizabeth…The loss snaps a 13-game winning streak over the Eagles…Saturday's loss is also the first home setback this season for Lancaster Bible…The Chargers are allowing just 58.3 points per game this season, but are scoring just 56.3 points a contest…Lancaster Bible has yet to shoot above 60 percent from the free throw line in a game this season.
 
Up Next: Lancaster Bible plays its final NEAC game of the semester on Wednesday night, as the Chargers host Gallaudet at 5:30 p.m.