WESTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team erased a 15-point deficit to pull even midway through the fourth quarter, but was unable to hold off host Regis College (Mass.) in a 72-60 loss this evening at Higgins Court in Weston, Mass.

The Lyons slip to 3-3 on the season, while the Pride improve to 1-6.

Wheaton struggled shooting the ball early in the game, posting an 18.8% (3-16) effort from the floor and finished the game with a 31.4% (22-70) mark, including 5-24 (20.8%) from three-point range. Regis shot a healthy 45.8% (27-59) from the field and was 15-18 (83.3%) from the free throw line. The Pride owned a 47-37 advantage on the boards. The teams combined for 48 turnovers in the game, including 28 by the Lyons, but managed to own a 25-15 margin in points off turnovers.

Sophomore forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led Wheaton with 14 points on 7-12 from the field to go with a rebound, a steal and an assist, while classmate Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) netted 11 points, grabbed eight boards, handed out two assists and came up with a trio of steals. 

Sophomore forward Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) led all scorers with 28 points on 13-20 from the floor to go with 15 rebounds for a double-double and a steal and an assist for Regis. Senior guard Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, Conn.) contributed with 16 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block, while sophomore forward Jordyn Striggles (Raynham, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points, two rebounds, a pair of assists and three steals.

Junior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) converted a fast break layup to cap eight unanswered points for the Lyons to pull them even at 51-51 with 5:51 to play in the fourth quarter. Senior forward Maddie Mueller (Carver, Mass.) kept Wheaton within a possession (56-53) with a pair of free throws at the 5:18 mark, but the Pride went on a 14-5 blitz, including six points from Striggles, to put the game out of reach at 70-58 with 29 ticks left on the clock. The teams traded layups in the final seconds to set the final at 72-60.

Regis raced out to an 11-2 lead, fueled by six points from Zancan, with 3:25 to go in the opening quarter. Sophomore guard Kennis Jasperson (Sacramento, Calif.) drained a three-pointer for the Lyons to end the stretch and make it 11-5 at the 3:08 mark. Fernandes later buried a three-pointer for Wheaton as well to keep the visitors to within 13-8 with 58 seconds left in the opening period, before Zancan made a layup with six seconds remaining for a 15-8 first quarter margin for the Pride.

The Lyons scored six of the first eight points of the second period, capped by a Keyter layup, to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 6:57 to go in the quarter. Regis ripped off 11 straight points, punctuated by a Striggles triple to give the home team a comfortable 28-14 cushion with 5:12 showing on the second quarter clock. 

Wheaton got no closer than 11 points for the rest of the half. Zancan converted a layup with 66 seconds to go in the second quarter to give the Pride the final points of the half and a 34-21 lead.

Graduate student guard Haley Lightbody (Reading, Mass.) sank a pair of free throws at 9:43 of the third quarter to give Regis its largest lead of the night at 36-21.

The Lyons roared back with a 15-5 stretch, including six points from junior guard Riley Sprague (Jamestown, R.I.) to close within 41-36 with 4:40 left in the quarter. Zancan completed a three-point play to bump the Pride's lead to 47-38 with 1:50 to go in the quarter. Wheaton scored the next five points, including a three-pointer from sophomore guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) to pull the Lyons to within 47-43 with 1:05 showing in the period. Doherty knocked down a pair of free throws to give Regis a 49-43 lead heading into the final quarter of play. 

Wheaton returns to action on Friday, December 1 when it takes on host Williams College for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off in Williamstown, Mass. as part of the two-day Shooting Touch Women's Basketball Tournament, while the Pride travel to Franklin, Mass. on December 2 to take on Dean College in a 1:00 p.m. game to open the Great Northeast Athletic Conference slate.