LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's basketball team lost, 78-70, at home in a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) contest against Keystone College on Wednesday evening. In the contest, the Highlanders dished out a season-high 22 assists, the most in a game since the 2016-17 season.
 

Keystone (13-7, 11-4 CSAC) jetted out to a quick 7-0 lead, before Cairn (8-14, 6-9 CSAC) responded with a 6-3 run to cut the deficit to four (10-6) midway through the period. The Giants held a 20-16 lead after one. The Highlanders cut into the deficit in the second quarter, only trailing by two (25-23) after a triple by senior Markie Watson (Jupiter, FL / Holy Cross Academy) at the 7:10 mark. The Giants answered by scoring the next nine points to take an 11-point lead (34-23) and increased their lead to 40-26 at intermission.
 

In the third frame, Keystone had their largest run of the game, outscoring the Highlanders 24-11 and held a commanding 64-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Keystone got its lead up to its largest point of 31 (71-40) with 8:20 to play and held a comfortable 28-point lead (74-46) with 7:14 remaining. Then, the Highlanders made their miraculous run, scoring 17-consecutive points over a five-minute span to cut the deficit to 11 (74-63) with 2:20 left. From that point, the Highlanders went on another run, this time a 7-2 spurt to cut the Keystone advantage down to just six (76-70) with 37 seconds remaining. The Highlanders pressured in the backcourt looking for a steal, but the Giants played keep-away for the remaining seconds and ran out the clock.
 

Cairn shot 42% (29-69) from the field compared to a 44.8% (30-67) mark for the Giants. The Highlanders did most of their damage in the fourth quarter, posting a 70% mark from the field in that 10-minute span. Both teams shot it well from long range, with Cairn connecting on 33.3% (9-27) of its triples and Keystone hitting 36.4% (12-33) of its opportunities. Both teams shared the rock exquisitely, as Keystone distributed 24 assists in the bout compared to the 22 Highlander assists. Cairn narrowly won the rebounding battle, 41-37.
 

Cairn was led by two freshmen in Taylor Hinson (Carney's Point, NJ / Collingswood HS) and Kailee Sobrino (Vail, AZ / Empire HS) who each posted team-highs with 17 points. Hinson added a team-high nine rebounds and two blocks while Sobrino buried four three-pointers and dished out four assists. Sobrino had 14 of her 17 points come in the fourth quarter. Sobrino and Hinson were followed by classmate Tamia Warner (Ewing, NJ / Ewing) who put in 14 points, six rebounds and a career-high five assists, while senior Dakota Hitchner (Ocean City, NJ / Atlantic Christian) added 10 points and a team-high eight assists.
 

Cairn will be back in action on Saturday, February 12 when it travels to Phoenixville to take on the University of Valley Forge in its final road CSAC contest at 2 p.m.