PHILADELPHIA, Penn. - The Caldwell College women's basketball team fell victim to a big comeback effort by the University of the Sciences and lost 74-70 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match-up Saturday afternoon at Morgan Arena. The defeat is the Cougars' third in four games and drops their record to 8-12 overall, including a 6-4 mark in the conference. The Devils improve to 10-10 overall, 7-5 CACC.

Caldwell never trailed in the first half and took control of the game with a 13-5 run midway through the half for a 21-12 lead. After the Devils cut the lead to 29-26 with 4:27 left in the half, the Cougars reeled off a 16-1 spree, ignited by a pair of threes from freshman guard Lynéa Blue (Jersey City, NJ/Marist), that gave Caldwell a commanding 45-27 lead at halftime. USP committed four turnovers and missed all four of its field goal attempts during the run.

A three-pointer by freshman guard Kaitlyn Lambert (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) to open the second half expanded the Cougars' advantage to 21 points, 48-27. Caldwell maintained an 18-point bulge with 15 minutes to play when USP began its comeback. Twelve points by Erin Chesnavich and eight from Colleen Christian, including two three-pointers, helped the Devils out-score the Cougars 30-10 over the next 10 minutes to take a 64-62 lead with 5:26 left. USP shot an amazing 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the field during the run compared to 36.3 percent (4-of-11) for the Cougars, who also had four turnovers. The Devils held onto the lead the rest of the way. Blue hit her fourth three-pointer of the game with 19 seconds to play to cut the deficit to two, 72-70, but Christian iced the game with two free throws.

Blue, who made 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, and senior forward Mackenzie Lynch (Wayne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) led the Cougars with 16 points apiece. Lynch also grabbed eight rebounds, while senior forward Janay Perkins (Bronx, NY/Walton) tallied a team-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points. Chesnavich led all players with 20 points, including 18 in the decisive second half, and 12 rebounds. Caitlin Shaw added 16 points for the Devils in the win.

Caldwell returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 10, with a CACC game at Felician College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Lodi, N.J.