The St. Lawrence University women's basketball had three players score eight points in their season opener, but the Saints committed 35 turnovers in an 81-54 loss to Ithaca College Saturday night in the first round of the Cortaca Classice in Ithaca.
The Saints (0-1) will face SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m. Saturday in the second day of the tournament.
Caroline Dalton, Cara Waterson and first-year Briana Monroe each scored eight points to lead the offense. Jenny Scudder added seven points while Waterson and Meghan Hynes had four rebounds each to lead the team.
The Saints held one of their only leads of the game in the opening minutes after Dalton and Kaelyn Kohlasch connected on back-to-back 3-point baskets giving St. Lawrence a 6-3 lead.
Ithaca (1-0) tied the game at 6-6 and again at 8-8 to start a 17-6 run that gave the Bombers a 10-point lead at 23-13 before finishing the first quarter with a 27-15 advantage.
The Saints played an even second quarter until a late run for Ithaca gave the Bombers a 49-26 advantage at the halftime break.
St. Lawrence outscored Ithaca 12-10 in the low-scoring third quarter but Ithaca responded with a 22-point final quarter while the Saints scored 16 in the final 10 minutes for the final score.
The Saints shot nearly 45 percent from the floor (21-for-47) but Ithaca took 27 more shots, finishing 32-for-74 from the field.
