BLOOMFIELD, N.J.- The Caldwell University women's basketball team closed out the first half of their season with a 63-61 loss to Bloomfield College in Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference action.
 
The Cougars fall to 1-10 overall and 1-3 in the CACC, while the Bears improve to 4-8 and 3-1 in conference play.
 
Senior Tina Lebron (Manalapan, N.J.) drained a pair of three-pointers in the opening quarter to help Caldwell build a 12-6 lead midway through the quarter. The Bears rallied back as they pulled ahead 22-16 with 6:06 left in the second quarter.
 
Caldwell closed out the first half strong as Lebron added a pair of trifectas. Graduate Alessia Smaldone (Malnate, Italy) added a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half to cut the score to 28-27 at halftime.
 
Bloomfield led by as much as seven points late in the third quarter and held a 54-48 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Cougars rallied back with a 10-2 run as freshman Rebecca Morrison (Ayrshire, Scotland) started the run with a three-point play at the 7:52 mark. Lebron and Smaldone each added three points in the run. Freshman Imogen Cook (North Berwick, Scotland) capped the run with a free throw with 1:54 to play in the game to put the Cougars ahead 58-56.
 
The teams traded points in the final minute with Bloomfield netting the go-ahead basket with 10 seconds left in the game. The Cougars netted a free throw late in the game but fell short of tying the game down the stretch.
 
Lebron shot 6-for-9 from downtown as she finished with 21 points and four rebounds. Smaldone tallied 19 points, nine boards, five assists and two steals. Morrison totaled 11 points, while Cook added six assists and two steals.
 
The Cougars return to action when the calendar flips to 2020 as they host Pace University in a non-conference contest on Thursday, January 2 at 2 pm.