ASHEVILLE —The St. Andrews Knights women’s basketball team competed in their first game in over a week on Wednesday night, losing to conference rival Montreat College at Kimmel Arena by a score of 85-58. St. Andrews falls to 3-7 (1-4 against conference opponents) on the season with the loss while the Cavaliers improve to 6-4 (4-2 against AAC teams) with the victory.

The Knights started the contest out strong, leading by as many as six in the first quarter (15-9 with 1:41 left in the opening frame) and were up by one (17-16) at the end of the period. Unfortunately for St. Andrews, that would be the high point of the night as Montreat erupted with 30 points in the second quarter and won every other quarter in the contest (30-17, 23-11 and 16-13) on their way to a dominant victory.

The only notable statistic that the Knights held an advantage in was second chance points (14-11). Otherwise, Montreat was better in every area including field goal percentage (46.6%-34.8%), three-point percentage (50%-36.8%), free throw percentage (66.7%-41.7%), rebounds (51-36), assists (27-16), turnovers committed (24-26), points off turnovers (38-20), points in the paint (50-24), fastbreak points (29-11) and bench points (27-22).

Katie Moore led St. Andrews in scoring with 14 points while also adding five rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks in the loss. Jamicia Davis added 11 points, three rebounds, a team leading six assists, two steals and a block off the bench. Jada Richardson led the team in rebounds with six.

The Knights will look to bounce back on Saturday when they host another conference rival in Brenau. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Harris Court.

Men’s basketball loses to Montreat

Similar to the women’s team, the men suffered a 27-point loss to their conference rivals on the road Wednesday night, falling by a score of 110-83. St. Andrews falls to 1-7 (0-5 against conference opponents) on the season with the loss while the Cavaliers improve to 8-4 (3-3 against AAC teams) with the victory.

St. Andrews’ largest advantage of the night was four (9-5 just over two minutes into the game) with them never leading after their 29-28 lead with 8:16 remaining in the half. The Knights trailed 44-36 at halftime and were also outscored 66-47 in the second half.

The only notable statistic that the Knights held an advantage in was free throw percentage (54.2%-50%). Otherwise, Montreat was better in every area including field goal percentage (45.7%-40.3%), three-point percentage (43.9%%-41.4%), rebounds (67-37), assists (27-19), points off turnovers (26-12), second chance points (19-13), points in the paint (48-32), fastbreak points (26-18) and bench points (41-26). Both teams committed 15 turnovers.

Jaylin McDuffie paced St. Andrews in scoring with 23 points while also adding two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Mateu Escamilla added 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Ma’Nas Drummond led the team in both rebounds (seven) and assists (eight) while also adding 12 points and two steals in the loss.

The Knights will next have an exhibition contest on Saturday at UNC Asheville. Their next game that counts toward their record will be next Monday, Dec. 16 at home against conference rival Milligan. Tipoff from Harris Court that day is scheduled for 2 p.m.