DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Union College women's basketball team dropped its first game of the season to a hot-shooting Babson College by a score of 76-66 on day one of the Lafrance Hospitality Invitational, hosted by UMass Dartmouth on Saturday evening.
 
A trio of players finished with 11 points to lead Union (1-1), as senior Joana Santos, sophomore Anna Metcalf and freshman Megan Lee all reached double figures. Lee also led the team with six rebounds as well on the night. The Dutchwomen, meanwhile, were almost single-handedly done in by Babson's Emily Bonifacic, who finished the game with 38 points on impressive 18-of-21 shooting to go with 10 rebounds.
 
Union shot the ball well on the evening before faltering late in the contest, still finishing at 46.7 percent (28 of 60) from the field and 43.8 percent (7 of 16) from beyond the arc. However, Babson connected on 54.7 percent (35 of 64) of its shots and also posted a decisive 41-25 edge on the glass to pick up the win.
 
Babson led by as many as six points during the opening quarter, but a pair of jumpers by freshman Kendall Degenhardt in the final minute decreased the deficit to only two (23-21) at the end of the first frame.
 
The teams traded the lead back and forth during the second quarter, but the Dutchwomen used a 9-2 run to take a 39-35 edge into halftime. Sophomore Laura Vinton started the run with back-to-back buckets, followed by a three from Metcalf and a jumper by Santos.
 
Union maintained its advantage to start the third quarter, building up a five-point cushion on two occasions thanks to a Santos three and a Degenhardt jumper. The Dutchwomen held onto their lead until the final minutes of the quarter, when Babson scored 10 straight points to go ahead by a 60-54 score after three quarters.
 
The Beavers started to pull away in the fourth frame, as Union went cold from the field. After shooting over 50.0 percent for much of the game, Dutchwomen connected on only five of their 17 shot attempts over the final 15 minutes of play in allowing Babson to come away with the win.
 
Union will face off with the host Corsairs in the consolation game tomorrow beginning at noon.