CALDWELL, N.J. – The Caldwell College women's basketball team dropped its home-opener to Stonehill College, 78-57 in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon in the Georg R. Newman Center. The loss is the first defeat of the season for the Cougars (2-1), while the Skyhawks remain unbeaten at 4-0.

The Cougars trailed for most of the first half, with Stonehill taking a 32-22 advantage with three minutes left before halftime. But Caldwell finished the half strong, reeling off 11 straight points to take a 33-32 lead into the locker room. Senior guard Dana Leary (Bridgewater, NJ/Immaculata), pictured, had five points in the run and junior forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) had four points, with junior forward Janay Perkins (Bronx, NY/Walton) getting a steal and a lay-up for the go-ahead basket with two seconds on the clock.

The lead exchanged hands three times early in the second half, with Stonehill using a 7-0 run to make the score 45-40 with 14:41 remaining. Caldwell cut the Skyhawks' lead to three twice but would get no closer, as a three-pointer by Erika Stupinski capped a 13-4 run to put Stonehill up 60-48 with 6:22 on the clock. The Skyhawks shot 53.6 percent from the floor in the second half compared to 29.4 percent for the Cougars, who couldn't capitalize on grabbing 20 offensive rebounds for the game.

Leary paced Caldwell with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, while Lynch had 13 points and eight boards. Senior guard Phylicia Holmes (Roselle, NJ/Roselle) tallied a team-best 10 rebounds, with Perkins adding 10 points and six boards. Megan Methven and Kelsey Simonds each scored 18 points for the Skyhawks, as Simonds (12 rebounds) and Bethany Tighe (16 points and 10 boards) recorded double-doubles in the win.

Caldwell begins Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 1 at Felician College. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. in Rutherford, N.J.