RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The women's basketball team dropped its first game of the road trip to La Sierra University 49-47.
The Golden Eagles drew first blood but Simpson answered back with two free throws by
Dyani Del Castillo.
LSU reeled off 10 unanswered points before
Riley Wallen drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven.
Kayla Morgan capped off the first quarter's scoring for Simpson with a layup in the paint to cut the LSU lead to 16-9 after one-quarter of play.
Rachel Gafford scored the first points of the second quarter on a jumper followed by a three-pointer to pull Simpson within seven points midway through the second quarter.
An
Anna Marshall layup followed by five straight points by
Rory Hetrick to close out the first half of play pulled Simpson within four, 21-25.
The third quarter included a defensive battle with a combined 18 points between the Red Hawks and Golden Eagles.
Simpson made a late surge and scored the final six points of the third quarter thanks to buckets from Gafford and
Itzel Torres.
The Red Hawks found themselves down 35-29 heading into the final quarter of play.
A free throw by Torres and a three-pointer from
Natalie Brown to start the fourth quarter pulled Simpson within two points in a one-possession game.
The Golden Eagles would grow its largest lead to 10 points midway through the fourth quarter.
However, Simpson chipped away and scored its final bucket by
Tessa Kinney with a few ticks left on the clock. However, La Sierra held off the late Red Hawk rally for the 49-47 victory.
Rachel Gafford led the team with 16 points to go along with three rebounds.
Playing in her first game in over two weeks,
Rory Hetrick had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with nine points on the night.
With the loss, Simpson remains 2.0 games out of first place and sits in sole possession of fourth place.
Simpson looks to bounce back against Embry-Riddle this Saturday in Prescott, AZ.
