The University of Mary Washington women's basketball team dropped a 63-53 decision at Marymount University on Saturday afternoon, to fall for the first time this season. UMW slips to 8-1 with the loss.

In a typical back-and-forth battle between the two old rivals, the kead changed hands four times in the early going, before the Saints extended a lead to five at the end of the first quarter, 13-8. The Eagles remained close, and regained the lead at 16-15 with 6:16 left in the second quarter. The lead would change hands five times down the stretch, with the Saints hitting a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to take a 24-23 lead to halftime.

In the third quarter, junior Keagan Schwab started the offense with a three pointer to give the Eagles the lead, and the game continued to be a classic UMW/Marymount slugfest, as the lead swung back and forth five times down the stretch in the quarter, with sophomore Elizabeth Dufrane hitting a jumper with 1:02 left to give UMW a 35-34 lead. A Sydney Sherman jumper gave the Eagles a 37-35 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

The Saints started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, but the Eagles scrapped back, cutting the deficit to 46-43 on a Jordan Carpenter basket with 5:53 left. A jumper from senior Ashley Martin cut UMW's deficit to 54-50 with 58 seconds left, but the Saints hit a three pointer and added a pair of free throws to extend to 59-50 before a Dufrane three pointer with 27 seconds left. Marymount connected on four free throws to close out the contest.

Dufrane made 8-18 shots to net a career-high 19 points as the only Eagle in double figures. Schwab scored nine points and Carpenter eight to go with a team-high nine rebounds.

The Eagles shot 21-52 from the field (40.4%), making 7-19 three point attempts and 4-8 free throws. Marymount shot 17-43 from the field (39.5%), making 4-13 three pointers and a pivotal 25-32 from the foul line. UMW held a 32-29 edge in rebounding.

UMW wil return to action on December 10 at Catholic University at 1:00 p.m.