Women's Basketball Drops Conference Opener

The Lady Keelhaulers (5-9, 0-1) opened conference play unable to hang with the defending conference champion UC Merced Bobcats (5-6, 1-0) for four quarters losing 71-42 on Saturday night in Merced.

Cal Maritime committed four more turnovers than UC Merced, and were outrebounded 47-31. The Keelhaulers kept the Bobcats under 39% shooting on the night, but shot just under 33% themselves.

"I thought we did the job we needed to do for the most part defensively, but turnovers that led to easy buckets for them killed us," Head Coach Dennis Cox said. " We have to be stronger with the basketball."

Senior Luisa Delos Reyes of San Leandro, Calif. lead the Keelhaulers in scoring with nine points to go along with three assists. Junior Samantha James of Fresno, Calif. came up just short of a double-double, scoring eight points and pulling down a team-leading nine rebounds.

Senior Alisia Spearman of Moreno Valley, Calif. also had eight points, and junior Katherine Freitas of Durham, Calf. grabbed six rebounds on the night. Again putting four quarters together was a challenge for Coach Cox's Lady Keelhaulers.

"I thought we played them tough for three quarters, but things got away from us there in the fourth," Coach Cox said. "We dug a bit of a hole in the first but fought out of it in the second. Early in the third quarter we had a chance to catch them or take lead, but misfired on some easy chances."

UP NEXT: The Lady Keelhaulers have some time off before hosting the William Jessup Warriors December, 30 at 5:30 in the P.E. Center on the Cal Maritime Campus.