Langhorne, PA - The Cairn women's basketball team fell to the Neumann University Knights on Saturday afternoon 65-61. The Highlanders trailed by as many as 15 points in the game but rallied back to take a lead at 59-58 with less than three minutes remaining in the contest. A pair of costly turnovers in the final two minutes led to empty possessions for the Highlanders and the Knights capitalized and held on for the four-point victory.
 
EJ Hartzler led Cairn with 14 points in the contest, thanks to a 4-10 effort from downtown. Kendra Stum and Charlotte Camp chipped in with 10 points each in the loss. Victoria Stum snatched 10 rebounds for her second-straight game with double-digit boards.
 
For the Knights Lauren Legler (19 points), AAliya Hayes (21), and Mariah Maciejewski (15) combined for 55 of the team's 65 points on the afternoon.
 
The first eight minutes of Saturday's contest were not kind to the Highlanders. Cairn fell into a deep 15-2 hole after the game was tied 2-2. After a Charlotte Camp jumper at the seven-minute mark of the first-quarter, the Highlanders' offense went missing for nearly five minutes. When it reappeared at the end of the quarter, the Knights had rattled off 13-straight points to take a sizable lead.
 
The Highlanders narrowed the gap to 11 with just seconds left in the quarter, but a layup from Nicole Sipp beat the buzzer and gave Neumann a 20-7 edge heading into the second stanza.
 
Aaliya Hayes connected on a layup just 32 seconds into the second-quarter for the Knights before the two sides held each other scoreless for the next three minutes. When Cairn's offense reappeared it did so in impressive fashion. The Highlanders connected for nine-straight points to close the gap to 26-21 before getting the Neumann lead down to 28-26.
 
The Knights scored eight of the final 10 points in the half to take a 36-28 lead into the break.
 
After halftime, the game really ebbed and flowed. Neumann built their lead to as many as 10 points on three occasions while late in the half the Highlanders came back and brought the lead to as few as two at 48-46. Once again Neumann finished the quarter on a high-note with four-straight points in the final 30 seconds to take a 52-46 lead into the final quarter.
 
Like the second and third quarters before it, the beginning of the fourth quarter belonged to the Knights. Neumann's lead hovered around seven points before EJ Hartzler made a pair of threes and Charlotte Camp connected on a pair of free throws to give Cairn their first lead of the game at 59-58 with just under three minutes remaining in the game.
 
The lead was short lived as Neumann's Lauren Legler hit a three on the next possession and the Knights did not give back the lead the rest of the way. Cairn had opportunities in their final few possessions, but a pair of turnovers thwarted their chances and Neumann hung on for the four-point victory.
 
Cairn moves to 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the CSAC and will next take the court on Thursday, Dec. 12 when they host Mid-Atlantic Christian University at 7:00 p.m.