The University of Mary Washington women's basketball team dropped a 53-48 decision at Catholic University in the Cardinals' Holiday Tournament championship on Tuesday. The Eagles slip to 6-3 on the season.

The game proved to be the tight contest it promised to be throughout, as the game started with the Eagles scoring first, and the Cardinals tying the score. The back-and-forth scoring lasted through the first eight minutes, with the score tied at nine.

The Cardinals finally broke the stretch with a pair of free throws to take an 11-9 lead, but senior guard Claire Haeuptle hit her second three pointer to give the lead back to UMW. Sophomore Brianne Comden then made back to back layups to build UMW's lead to five, at 16-11, with 9:18 to go.

UMW upped the lead to seven at 23-16 on a Megan Green three pointer, and another Haeuptle three with 2:26 left gave UMW an eight-point cushion, at 30-22. The teams traded baskets to close the half, and UMW led, 32-24, at intermission.

The Eagles came out strong to start the second half, with an 11-7 start, propelling the lead to 12, at 43-31 with 12:59 to play. The Cardinals answered with a run of their own, with a pair of baskets and a three pointer in an 11-0 run, that pulled the deficit to 43-42 with 8:26 left.

A Comden layup returned UMW's lead to three at 45-42 with 7:59 to play, and senior Aubrey Howland made a free throw with 7:04 to play to move the Eagles lead to 46-42. A Melissa Errico layup cut the lead to 46-44, and, after nearly three minutes of scoreless play, tied the score with another with 4:22 to go.

Catholic took the lead on a three pointer from Bridget Power with 58 seconds left, but Howland made a layup with 44 seconds left to move the score to 49-48. A late basket and two free throws from Josephine Migash proved to be the difference for CUA.

The Eagles shot 31.6% from the field (18-57), making 5-19 three pointers and 7-15 free throws. Catholic shot 35.3% (18-51), making 3-14 three pointers, and went 14-21 from the free throw line. Catholic led in rebounds, 46-37.

UMW was led by Comden, who scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting, and Haeuptle, who scored 11. Both were named to the all-tournament team.

The Eagles will return home on Saturday when they host Marymount University at 1:00 p.m. in the first Capital Athletic Conference game of the new year.