PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Westminster College women's basketball team lost, 57-53, at Chatham University in a conference matchup Friday evening.

Chatham (8-9, 4-4 PAC) struck first with five-straight points to start the first quarter. It was a low scoring first quarter with a four-minute period of no scoring from 8:39 to 4:30 ending it with the Cougars in front, 9-6.

The second quarter opened with much more scoring as Titan sophomore Alazia Greaves (West Sunbury, PA / Moniteau) hit a 3-pointer on the first possession to tie the game at 9. Titan junior Kayla Bennett (Kent, OH / Theodore Roosevelt) put Westminster (6-12, 4-5 PAC) ahead, 16-15, with a jumper with 7:41 left in the half. Chatham then scored six unanswered points to take a 21-16 lead with 5:37 remaining. Chatham led, 26-20, at halftime.

The Cougars opened the second half with six-straight points, extending their lead to 32-20.  Westminster surged back with seven-straight points, with a basket from Bennett and a field goal and 3-pointer from first-year Magen Polczynski (Irwin, PA / Norwin), to cut Chatham's lead to 32-27.  After a Chatham basket, the Titans went on a six-point run to pull within one point at 34-33 with 4:17 left in the quarter. Chatham would then score nine-straight points as the 3^rd quarter ended with the Cougars having a 45-37 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Chatham held a 53-41 lead with 4:08 left in the game, however, the Titans went on a 10-0 run to close the gap to two points at 53-51 with 2:22 on the clock. The Titans and Cougars each traded field goals and Westminster trailed 55-53 with 1:25 left.  Chatham would add two more points via free throws to win 57-53. The Titans outscored the Cougars 16-12 in the 4^th quarter, but were unable to overcome the deficit.

Bennett scored a team-high 16 points with 8-of-16 shooting, to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks. Junior Emily Fromknecht (Erie, PA / McDowell) recorded her fifth double-double of the season (14th of her career) with 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Fromknecht also had a career and game-high six assists and made a career-best two three-pointers (2-for-2). Polczynski finished with 14 points on 10 shots (including a pair of threes),  with five rebounds and three assists.

Westminster outshot Chatham 42.0% (21-50) to 30.3% (20-66) and outrebound the Cougars 47 to 35. Chatham turned 25 Titan turnovers into 22 points.

The Titans will next take on Thiel College at home Wednesday, January 23 with a 6 p.m. start time.