The Alma College Women's Basketball team opened up the home portion of their 2009-10 schedule on Tuesday evening when they hosted Aquinas College at Cappaert Gymnsasium. The Scots' opener under first-year Head Coach Keisha Brown, saw the home team end up on the wrong end of a 72-51 final score. Alma is now 0-4 on the year, while the Saints improved to 6-0 this season.

Despite trailing by just seven points at 22-15 with 5:47 remaining in the first half, the Scots saw themselves behind the Saints by a margin of 44-19 at halftime, as Aquinas outscored the home team by a score of 22-4 to end the first frame. Alma shot just 26.5% in the first half (9 of 34), while the Saints hit on 14 of 32 shots, good for 43.8%. An important stat of the first 20 minutes was free throws, where Alma did not attempt one, while the visitors went 13 of 14.

Alma hung tough in the second half and outscored the visitors by a margin of 32-28 in the final 20 minutes. Most encouraging was the 50% shooting by the home team (15 of 30), while holding the Saints to just 32.3% (10 for 31) in the half.

"It is disappointing to be 0-4 at this point of our season," said Alma Head Coach Keisha Brown. "While it is nice that we competed like we did in the second half, we must learn how to play a full 40 minutes. We have league play coming up and we just need to keep working hard to get better. We play these types of teams and games to get us ready for MIAA competition."

For the game, Sr. F Meagan Hoblet led all Alma scorers with 15 points on seven of 16 shooting, while Jr. F Sydney Beckwith and So. C Aubrey Maxa each contributed 10 points. Both Hoblet and Maxa notched nine rebounds, while Sr. G Lacey Best-Rowden had a team-high five assists. Fr. G Danielle Hicks finished the evening with a team-best three assists, while adding eight points and four rebounds.

The Scots will next play this Sunday afternoon, when they host Madonna University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Cappaert Gymnasium.