SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College basketball team fared far better against Mitchell College on Saturday than in the teams' previous two meetings, falling 57-52 to the visiting Mariners in a non-conference game at Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.
In a back-and-forth game, there were 15 lead changes and seven ties. Both teams' largest lead of the game was six points.
Mitchell (1-2) took its first win of the season, but Mount Holyoke (0-5) made the visiting Mariners earn it. Mitchell defeated Mount Holyoke 84-50 last season and 77-34 two years ago in the teams' first-ever meeting.
The Lyons outrebounded the Mariners 52-45 and outshot them from long range, making 5-30 shots from three while Mitchell shot 1-17. Mitchell had a 25-19 advantage in turnovers and a 19-10 edge in points off turnovers, as well as a 32-18 edge in points in the paint.
Jordyn Streitmatter led Mitchell with 14 points, while N'Tai Teague had a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and Jade Hypolite added 12 points, six assists and six steals.
First-year Helena Robinson (Gales Ferry, Conn.) scored a game-high 15 points and added nine rebounds for Mount Holyoke. Junior Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) had 10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.) added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Mount Holyoke led 40-38 to start the fourth quarter, and back-to-back 3-pointers by sophomore Emma Zoubok (Somers, N.Y.) followed by a Robinson layup had the Lyons leading 48-44 with 5:35 to go.
A three-point play by Teague and a layup by Inonda Peterson returned the lead to Mitchell at 49-48, and a jumper by Teague made it 51-48.
A floater in the lane by Twomey closed the gap to a point (51-50) for the final time in the game, as Mitchell made three straight defensive stops while getting a Streitmatter layup with 2:03 left.
Following three straight costly turnovers by the Lyons, Hypolite was fouled and made both free throws for a 55-50 Mitchell lead with 42 seconds remaining. A layup by senior Cal McGonagle (Yarmouth, Maine) with 9 seconds to go closed it to 56-52, before Mitchell's Kyrsten Lucas made 1 of 2 free throws with six seconds remaining to ice the game.
Mount Holyoke will play at Anna Maria College Tuesday at 4pm. Mitchell will play at Dean College on Dec. 7 at 1pm.
