BRONXVILLE, N.Y. -- The Mount Holyoke College basketball team showed offensive promise despite losing 75-68 Sunday at Sarah Lawrence College in the Lyons' season opener.
Jade Ling Eng-Stewart scored a game-high 24 points off the bench for Sarah Lawrence (1-1), and Gabby Hudson added 20, as the two combined for 58.6 percent of the Gryphons' scoring.
Mount Holyoke's 68 points were the team's highest output since a 70-64 win over Gordon last season, and their second-most in a game since the 2015-16 season.
The Lyons shot 48.6 percent from the field, their best team field goal percentage since a 61-59 win at Clark on Jan. 25, 2014.
Four players scored in double digits for the Lyons, including two first-year guards in Erica Yokota (Niiza, Japan) and Anju Manfred (Osaka, Japan). Yokota scored 15 points in her Lyons debut, while Manfred scored 13 points on 6-10 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Junior Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.) helped Mount Holyoke control the glass by a 51-33 margin, collecting 16 rebounds and five blocked shots while scoring 12 points. Senior Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) poured in a team-high 17 points on 8-12 shooting, adding five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Mount Holyoke fell short of the host Gryphons in turnovers (29-12) and at the free-throw line, where the Lyons shot 7-24 (.292) while Sarah Lawrence made 13-20 (.650).
Sarah Lawrence built a 36-21 lead with 4:14 remaining in the first half, but Mount Holyoke ended the half with a 13-5 run to close the deficit to 41-34 at intermission, punctuated by a three-point play by Yokota with 36 seconds to go, followed by a jumper by first-year Ashtyn DiRienzo (Fremont, N.H.) with two ticks left.
Sarah Lawrence led by nine points after three quarters. Mount Holyoke closed it to 56-51 after a layup by Yokota, but the Gryphons scored nine straight points to resume a 14-point lead at 65-51 with 4:09 to go. The Lyons had a late burst with nine points in the final minute of the game, with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Manfred closing the final gap to 75-68.
Mount Holyoke next plays at UMass Boston on Wednesday at 7pm.
