WASHINGTON - The Catholic University of America women's basketball team fell, 66-61, in a Landmark Conference match up at the Raymond A. DuFour Center, Wednesday night. The loss drops the Cardinals to 12-8 in the 2015-16 season and 7-4 in the conference, while the Blue Jays increase their record to 11-6 overall, 7-4 in the league.

Catholic junior Melissa Errico hit two layups to open the game giving the Lady Cardinals the first four points of the contest. Additional field goals from junior Michelle DeSantis and seniors Jayni Webster, Josephine Migash, and Kristen Walheim brought the score to 11-9.  In a tight battle, back-to-back E-Town buckets in the sixth minute put the Blue Jays up 12-11. Unwilling to relinquish their lead, the Blue Jays finished the quarter ahead, 20-16.

With the home court advantage, Catholic came into the second period strong, going on a seven point run to close the gap. A layup from DeSantis tied the game at 31. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays hit seven unanswered points to bring their lead to 38-31 heading into the halftime break.

CUA sophomore Payton Smith scored the first points of the third period on a fast break layup. Field goals from E-Town freshman Abby Beyer, sophomore Rachel Liszkiewiz and junior Emily Martin increased the Blue Jays margin to 11 (53-42) before the clock expired in the third period.

Steals by DeSantis and Webster took E-Town by surprise to start the fourth period. The Blue Jays were unable to score for solid three minutes. Despite Catholic's hard defensive efforts, Elizabethtown found themselves with a 13 point advantage (57-44), with 5:22 to play in the fourth period.

With minutes to play, the Lady Cards looked to their reserves for some crucial off the bench play. Sophomore Samantha Cowan proved to be a huge spark, adding seven points in just six minutes, including the 3-point shot that brought the Cards to 61 points. The lead proved to be just too big to close, as the game ended in favor of the Blue Jays 66-61.

Although Elizabethtown came out on top, DeSantis had a stand out game for Catholic, hitting a team-high 16 points, while grabbing four boards and two steals. Webster tallied a team-high six rebounds, while Errico and DeSantis each had six assists.

Catholic will continue their 2015-16 campaign with their next three games on the road. Their first stop will be at Drew University on Sat., February 3, followed by midweek contests at Goucher College (Wed., Feb. 10) and Juniata College (Wed., Feb. 17). They will return home to host the University of Scranton on Sat., February 20 and USMMA on Sun., Feb 21.