Falcons Suffer First Loss of the Season, 77-65

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Montevallo women's basketball team (3-1) received its first loss of the season as St. Leo University (4-0) defeated the Falcons 77-65 at the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic. The Falcons played an even second half with the Lions but could not overcome an 11-point first half deficit. The Falcons were called for 22 fouls compared to SLU's 11 which led to a 24-6 advantage for the Lions at the free throw line.

The Falcons were led by senior Alicia Lewis (Youngsville, La./Comeaux) who scored 20 points, dished out three assists and made five steals. Junior Carrie Parrott (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel) was second on the team in scoring with 11 points while junior Kristen Seigenthaler (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Siegel) chipped in eight.

Senior Alex Sanabria (Miami, Fla./Miami) led the team with seven assists and chipped in four points as well. Classmate Manal Cali (Northampton, England/Northampton School for Girls) led with five rebounds and also had seven points. Junior Shan Jones (Hartselle, Ala./Hartselle) had seven points, four rebounds and four steals.

The Lions had a 33-17 advantage in points off turnovers despite only having one less turnover than the Falcons.

UM opened up the game on fire as they hit five-straight shots to take an 11-2 lead just three minutes into the game. Down 16-9 with 14:15 left on the clock the Lions went on a 12-0 run to take a 21-16 lead with 9:43 left in the first half. The Falcons fought back and took a 22-21 lead but it would be short-lived and the last lead the Falcons would hold the rest of the game. The Lions continued to build their lead as they ended the first half up 43-32.

The second half was an even match as the Lions held onto their lead the entire 20 minutes. The Falcons were able to cut the SLU lead to six but that would be as close as they would get as the Lions won 77-65.

The Falcons will return to action tomorrow, Nov. 28 at 2 p.m. as they take on host Eckerd College in the final game of the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic.