BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University women's basketball team dropped its North Atlantic Conference home-opener to the defending NAC Champions, Maine Maritime Academy, 63-53 on Thursday evening at Newman Gymnasium.

Husson (4-4, 2-1 NAC) came out of the gates fast, as it opened the scoring on the first possession of the contest with a three by junior Lauren Cook and followed that up with a layup from graduate student Bailey Donovan and five points from junior Sofia Torres-Reyes to gain a quick 10-3 edge over the Mariners (5-3, 2-0 NAC). The Eagles were able to keep Maine Maritime at an arm's length for the remainder of the opening quarter, taking a 20-14 advantage into the second period.

The Mariners kept clawing their way back into the contest and took their first lead of the game with 4:36 to play in the second quarter and carried a 31-28 lead into the halftime break.

After Maine Maritime opened the second half with four quick points to stretch its lead out to seven, the Eagles countered with seven points from Donovan and three from Cook, in addition to holding the Mariners scoreless for nearly five minutes, to regain possession of the lead, 38-35. Husson took a slim one-point lead into the final quarter, as it looked to avenge a loss to Maine Maritime last year that ended its season.

With the Mariners leading 54-53 and just under three and a half minutes to play, cold shooting and late-game turnovers from the Eagles would allow Maine Maritime to outscore Husson 9-0 over the final stretch of the game and send the Eagles to their first conference loss of the year.

Cook led the offensive attack for Husson, pouring in five three-pointers to finish her night with 15 points. Donovan concluded an efficient shooting performance with 13 points on 6-7 shooting, in addition to ripping down nine rebounds and swatting away two shots.

The Eagles finished at under 30% as a team from the field and committed 22 turnovers, which led to 16 Mariner points.

Husson will return to action three weeks from today when it heads to Daytona Beach, Fla. to take part in the Florida Sunshine Shootout. The Eagles will open the two-day event when they take on Salve Regina University for the first time in 13 years on Dec. 28 at 12 p.m.