ALBION, Mich. - Albion College shot 17 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and it went 3-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 2:10 and those missed scoring chances were costly in a 66-62 loss to Rochester College in a non-league women's basketball game at Kresge Gymnasium.
"We had a lot of chances – not just at the end," Albion Head Coach Doreen Carden said after her team fell to 1-4 on the season. "We have to finish. We have to put the ball in the basket."
Rochester shot 60 percent as it surged to a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Neither team shot well in the second quarter, but Emily Zgoda and Olivia Savage knocked down three-point field goals and Catie Neary and Darian Payne tacked on baskets as Albion trimmed the deficit to 24-23 with four minutes to play in the first half. Zgoda hit another shot from the outside as Albion forged a 28-28 tie at halftime.
Albion went on a 7-0 run early in the third quarter to build its largest lead of the night, 35-30, with 7:17 left.
The lead changed nine times from that point.
Oreyana Curry erased Rochester's 57-52 lead by scoring seven points as Albion surged to a 59-58 lead with less than two minutes left. The Britons led 60-58 when Daren Payne split a pair from the line.
Jackie Highstreet produced the go-ahead basket for Rochester when she accepted a handoff from Erica Schwartz and buried a long three-point shot. The shot boosted the Warriors to a 64-62 lead and Schwartz tacked on a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining.
Payne finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in producing her fourth double-double in as many games. Curry led all players with a season-high 18 points, Zagoda chipped in with 10 points, and Erin Nelson finished a point shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Schwartz and Keearra Brown led Rochester with 15 points apiece.
Albion jumps into the first of three Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association games during the month of December when it meets Kalamazoo College at 3 p.m. Saturday inside Kresge Gymnasium.
