WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 4, 2020) -- The King's College women's basketball team started play in the 2020 Jamie Lynn Roberts Classic hosted by Catholic University of America, falling to No. 14/18 Marymount University 88-70 from Franny Murray Court Saturday. 

The Monarchs (6-4) trailed early, as the Saints (10-2) took a 14-4 lead with 5:25 to go in the first quarter after an offensive rebound put-back by Gabriella Haddad. King's rallied to trim the MU edge to just three with 1:36 to play in the opening period after sophomore Samantha Rajza buried a triple. The Saints would score on the next possession, and took an 18-13 lead into the second quarter. 

King's would play their best period of basketball in recent memory in the second quarter, shooting 62.5 percent in the stanza while outscoring Marymount 27-20 to take a 40-38 lead into halftime. Down 20-15, King's went on an 8-0 run early in the period to take its first lead on a layup by Rajza. 

The Monarchs would take their biggest lead to that point at 31-26 following a driving layup by freshman Sarah Heiskell-Mann, and the King's edge would hover around five points for the next few minutes. With 1:54 to go in the half, senior Mackenzie Yori drilled a trifecta to give King's its biggest lead of the contest at six at 40-34. 

After the break, Marymount surged back ahead early in the period but King's answered back to regain the lead at 48-47 thanks to a three-pointer from senior guard Kayla Dillinger. MU's Lauryn Caiafa followed that with a three of her own, but Dillinger connected on her second three of the game to give King's its last lead of the game at 51-50. 

The Saints though would follow Dillinger's barrage with a 9-0 run, capped by a trifecta from Abby Fisher, three of her 25 points for Marymount. King's would cut the deficit to four at 59-55 after a hoop and the harm from freshman Emily Morano, but Haddad recorded a three-point play on the next possession to make it 62-55 going to the fourth. 

In the final stanza, Marymount came alive offensively, shooting 55.6 percent while continued its hot shooting from three-land to pull away for the win. The story of the contest though was the dominance inside for Marymount, as the Saints out-rebounded King's 51-28 while holding a 48-26 edge in paint points and a 25-2 lead in second chance points. 

King's put four players in double digits, as Rajza finished with 15 points, four steals, two assists and two blocks. Senior Rebecca Prociak posted 14 points and nine rebounds, adding five assists to just miss a double-double, while Yori added 14 points, six assists and three steals. 

Morano tallied 14 points and seven rebounds, her fourth straight contest with double-digits off the bench for King's. Dillinger finished with six points on 2-of-3 shooting, hitting both triples she attempted, while Emily Kriston added five points, three rebounds, and two steals. King's shot 41.3 percent (26-63) from the floor on the contest, while making 31.6 percent (6-19) from three-land. 

Marymount was paced by the 27 points and 12 rebounds from Haddad, while Fisher finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Katie McShea also posted 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists for MU, which shot 48.5 percent from the field on the contest. 

King's will continue to battle teams from the Commonwealth of Virginia Sunday afternoon, taking on the University of Mary Washington at 1 p.m. in the second and final day of play from the Roberts Classic at Catholic University.