ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Husson University women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought, defensive battle to No. 20/No. 25 Messiah University by a final score of 56-39 on Monday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Florida at the St. Petersburg Classic.

Husson (3-9) struck first after forcing a turnover from Messiah (8-2) on its opening possession, as freshman Saige Evans would put the Eagles up just over 30 seconds into the game.

The Falcons would score the next eight points of the contest, but Husson would rally and go into the second quarter down just 11-10 thanks in part to six points from Evans.

Evans would once again give Husson the lead back to begin the second period of play, which would trigger a quarter that saw the lead change hands six times with Messiah ending the period on top 21-19.

A layup from freshman Lilly Roy brought the Eagles back to within four at the 4:56 mark, but an 11-1 outburst from the Falcons to conclude the third quarter sent them into the final 10 minutes with a double-digit lead.

Messiah would put the game away to begin the final period by scoring the first six points and would cruise to its eighth win of the season.

Evans led the way for Husson with 11 points in the game on an efficient 5-6 shooting, in addition to posting two steals and one block.

The Eagles posted just a 28.1% shooting rate as a team, including a 17.6 clip from beyond the arc, but did manage to secure a 42-40 victory in the rebounding battle.

Husson will look to rebound on Jan. 6 when it hosts Vermont State University Lyndon at Newman Gymnasium in a North Atlantic Conference matchup set for 4 p.m.