PENSACOLA, Florida–Our Lady Basketball team controlled the pace throughout the opening three quarters game but saw a late 3rd quarter lead escape them in today's 68-63 defeat to the Point University Skyhawks.

Joy Smith finished the game with 20 points to lead the Lady Eagles in scoring while Sandy McElhaney recorded a career-high 13 rebounds in the losing effort. Emma Hardy finished the game with a team-leading 4 assists.

In the first quarter of action tonight, the Lady Eagles jumped out to an early advantage behind the three point shooting of Jessica Boyd and Lauran Alvarez. The two sharp shooters both made two in the opening period of play. Despite the hot shooting, the Lady Eagles trailed 20-17 at the end of one quarter of basketball.

The second quarter saw the Lady Eagles battle the visiting Skyhawks. The team was able to hold Point University's best player, Taylor Tucker to just 11 points in the opening half. The team would head into halftime trailing the Skyhawks 36-32.

The Lady Eagles opened the second half strong, cutting into the lead of the Skyhawks. With 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the Lady Eagles roared to a two point lead behind the energy of the home crowd. The Skyhawks who trailed 42-40 didn't give up. They went on a 13-0 run in the waning minutes of the 3rd quarter to stretch their lead back up to 11 points.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles battled back to get within six, but the Skyhawks would prove to be too much for the Lady Eagles. The team would go on to lose today's home opener 68-63.

"We gave up a 13-0 run at the end of the 3rd quarter," Head Coach Jared Sellars said after the game. "Against a good team like the Skyhawks we have to do a better job of containing their offense."

With today's loss, the Lady Eagles dropped to 1-2 in the early stages of the 2018 season. The team will look to rebound when they take on Wesleyan College tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. here at home in the Arlin R. Horton Sports Center Arena.