No. 5 Lady Saints fall to No. 13 Lady Chaps for first loss of the season

MIDLAND, Texas – The fifth-ranked Lady Saints basketball team started slow and could not recover in a 71-58 loss to No. 13 Midland College in the opening round of the WNIT on Thursday at Midland. The loss was Seward's first of the season, dropping to 4-1.

The Lady Chaparrals stormed out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and never looked back. The Lady Saints did not score until almost midway through the first quarter when Karolina Szydlowska nailed a three-pointer. Vanda Cuamba hit two free throws to cut the gap to 12-5 for Seward, but could get no closer the rest of the game. Midland held a 22-11 lead after one quarter and expanded its margin to 45-30 at the half.

It was an ugly first half for Seward, which committed 13 turnovers and was pounded on the offensive side of the glass, allowing nine Midland offensive rebounds.

In the third quarter, Seward was again plagued by a slow start. Midland scored the first 10 points and opened up a 55-30 advantage. The Lady Saints fell behind by as many as 26 points in the quarter before trailing 67-41 after three.

Seward emptied the bench in the fourth quarter and the players responded by giving a strong effort. The Lady Saints outscored the Lady Chaps, 17-4, but the game was never in doubt.

Szydlowska had 13 points and six rebounds, Leilani Augmon scored 12 points and Cuamba had nine points and four rebounds for Seward, which shot only 27 percent from the field on 19-of-69 shooting. The Lady Saints were outrebounded 46-34 for the game.

The Lady Saints will play the Salt Lake Community College Bruins at 3 p.m. on Friday in the consolation bracket of the WNIT.