The York University Lions women's basketball team raced out to a big first-quarter lead but could not maintain the momentum en route to a 71-60 loss to the Queen's Gaels at the Athletic & Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday.
 
Playing against a one-loss Gaels team and in front of more than 1500 school children, the Lions built a 25-18 lead in the first quarter. The frame ended with Haley Bowie nailing a three-pointer at the buzzer to put the Lions up by seven.
 
The Gaels chipped away at the deficit in the second and got the score to within one at 33-32 late in the quarter, but Bowie hit her second buzzer-beater of the half and the Lions were up 36-32 at the break.
 
The Gaels wasted little time getting back into the game in the third quarter, and they took the lead at 41-39 just 2:50 into the frame. From there it was all Queen's, as they outscored the Lions 23-13 in the quarter to take a six-point lead.
 
The Lions would not go away, however, and with 4:38 remaining Bowie was once again at the forefront, sinking another three-pointer to make the score 61-60 in favour of the Gaels. That was as close as the visitors would get, as the Gaels went on to score 10 unanswered points to win their eighth game of the season, improving their record to 8-1. The Lions dropped to 4-6 with the loss.
 
Bowie finished as the team's leading scorer with 16 points and added six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Katrina Collins-Samuels contributed 12 points and four assists, while Chante Clarke chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
 
The Lions will now head into the December break and will return to action on Friday, Dec. 5 when they travel to Sudbury, Ont., to face the Laurentian Voyageurs in a game beginning at 6pm.