The St. Lawrence University women's basketball team took an early lead, but Conn College battled back and pulled away on Friday night at the Caprio Center in Springfield, Mass., earning a 62-48 win over the Saints.

The loss was the Saints' first of the season. Their non-conference record is now 3-1.

"We faced a good team today and did not execute our game plan as well as we had done in previous games," said Saints head coach Dan Roiger. "We struggled shooting after performing well in previous games, but a lot of that can be credited to their defense. They closed out hard on us. We need to learn from this experience and move on quickly, as we have a quick turnaround with a noon start tomorrow."

After the Camels opened the scoring, the Saints answered quickly with an Elizabeth Flynn layup  to tie it. Conn briefly went back in front 4-2, but Jackie Malley knocked down her first three of the night with eight minutes left to give the Saints a 5-4 lead. The teams traded baskets throughout a tight opening frame that featured five lead changes. Conn carried a 19-16 advantage into the second quarter.

Early in the second, Sydney Marshall hit one of two free throws at 9:32 to extend Conn's lead to 20-16. St. Lawrence responded with a strong possession that ended with Malley finding Mason Baker-Schlendering for a jumper at 4:43, cutting the deficit to 29-22. Despite active defensive rebounding from Flynn and Hannah Van Dyke, St. Lawrence went into halftime down 33-27.

Conn opened the third quarter with a three to push the lead to 36-27. Midway through the period, Mia Xerras scored in transition to keep the Camels in control. Van Dyke gave the Saints a lift late in the quarter, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring a tip-in before completing the three-point play to bring SLU within 54-42.

Conn extended its lead again in the fourth and closed out the game with a 15-point win.

Malley led St. Lawrence with 14 points on four three-pointers. Norah Niesz added nine points, all from beyond the arc. Flynn finished with seven points and seven rebounds, and Van Dyke contributed nine rebounds and five points off the bench.

The Saints will face Salve Regina in their final game at Western New England. Tipoff is at 12 p.m.