SPARTANBURG, S.C. —The St. Andrews Knights women’s basketball team narrowly fell on the road to Spartanburg Methodist College in their season opener by a score of 65-63 on Tuesday night at Bridges Arena. St. Andrews falls to 0-1 on the season with the loss while the Pioneers improve to 1-1 with the victory.

The Knights had the edge in several key statistics including field goal percentage (58.5%-45.1%), three-point percentage (35.7%-21.4%), rebounds (27-23) and assists (16-8). Still, the Pioneers did gain an advantage in some areas such as free throw percentage (76.2%-66.7%), turnovers committed (12-16), points off turnovers (19-10), second chance points (15-3) and points in the paint (26-20).

St. Andrews led by as many as nine in the game and entered the fourth quarter with a two-point edge but were outscored by four in the final frame (20-16) to fall just short. They had a chance to tie the game at the end as time expired but missed a layup.

Katie Moore paced the Knights in points with 13 on a very efficient night from the floor (6-8) and also added two blocks. Ashley Starks contributed 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal while Jamicia Davis led the team in assists with six and also nabbed five rebounds in the loss.

St. Andrews will now return home for their next two games, starting with their home opener on Saturday afternoon against Voorhees University with tipoff scheduled for noon. They will then get a shot at redemption against the Pioneers when they make the approximately three-hour long drive to Laurinburg for another matchup with the Knights on Wednesday night. That game will start at 5:30 p.m.