Women's Basketball Narrowly Defeated by No. 20 Holy Family, 55-52

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Playing against the top team currently in the CACC standings, the University of Bridgeport's women's basketball squad suffered a 55-52 loss to 20^th-ranked Holy Family (19-4, 11-1 CACC) on Saturday afternoon.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Shakira Hester led the way with one of the best performances of her career. She finished with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Hester also chipped in five rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Mackenzie Creighton, who had a career-high 20 points at Bloomfield on Wednesday, added 13 more on Saturday. She also dished out six assists and matched Hester with a team-best three steals.

Ana Gascon, meanwhile, served as UB's leading rebounder (7) to go along with eight points and two steals. Gascon is now ranked sixth in the CACC in boards per contest (7.3) this season.

As a team, the Purple Knights piled up 12 steals for a third straight contest. They have now reached double-figure takeaways in 10 different games this season.

UB is now ranked fourth in the CACC in steals per game (8.42) and slotted fourth in the conference in opponents points per game (60.9).

Offensively, Bridgeport finished 19-of-55 from the field, 3-for-13 from long range and 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Facing a team that was voted in the national rankings this week, UB stayed within striking distance across the entire 40 minutes.

The game was tied, 12-12, after one quarter while Holy Family led by just two at halftime and by six after three quarters.

Bridgeport ended up erasing that six-point deficit to even the contest up at 50-50 with 1:38 left in regulation and then at 52-52 with 1:06 remaining.

With the game all tied up at 52-52, it was two consecutive stops by Holy Family and a trio of free throws that ultimately clinched the win.

UP NEXT
The Purple Knights will host Caldwell on Tuesday at 5 p.m.