BRONXVILLE, NY – The SUNY Old Westbury women's basketball team was defeated by the Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence College last night by a final score of 84-51.

In the Panthers' third Skyline Conference matchup of the season, the team could not do enough to overcome the impressive offensive showing from the Gryphons.

The game began with a Panthers' basket thanks to a layup from Fatima Thompson. From there, the Panthers would commit two costly turnovers on back-to-back possessions, helping the Gryphons propel their early lead and go on a seven point run.

The Panthers put up a valiant effort but as the first quarter came to a close, the Gryphons controlled the lead by a score of 24-15.

Throughout the second quarter, it would be much of the same, with the Gryphons controlling the pace of the game and the scoreboard. The Panthers put up a total of 12 points in the second quarter with five of those points coming from Phalan Smith.

At the half, the Gryphons maintained a healthy lead and went into the break ahead by a score of 45-27.

Old Westbury entered the second half with confidence as they tried to pick up ground over Sarah Lawrence. After Smith hit a pair of free throws for OW, Sierra Rowe connected on a big three pointer to score her first points of the night. From there, on the following possession, Allysha Thomas put back a nice layup in the paint for her second basket of the contest. Despite the slight spark in the OW offense, the Panthers would still be outscored in the third quarter by six points and trailed 66-42.

The fourth quarter would be much of the same although the Panthers found themselves struggling on offense, only putting up nine points in the final quarter. The Gryphons continued to pile on the points and walk away with the 84-51 victory over Old Westbury.

There were several impressive Panther performances to note despite the defeat. Phalan Smith continued to be dominant and would finish the night with 11 points, six rebounds, a block and three steals. She went six for six from the free throw line and hit a three-point shot on the night after playing nearly the entire game.

Another impressive performance for OW came from Tyela Davidson who continues to up her play. She ended the night with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Kasiobi Okenwa would lead the Panthers in rebounding and finished the game with a total of seven. Okenwa also scored 10 points.

As for the Gryphons, there were several players who put up big time stat lines and had impressive games. Khailand Anderson-Strawder led the game in scoring with 25 points. She also had five rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals. Another member of the 20-point club for the Gryphons was Kaila Dorch. She had 23 points, nine rebounds and a steal. Kendall Haymore recorded a double-double as she ended the game with a very impressive total of 20 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals.

For the Panthers throughout the night, the team shot the ball 23 percent from field goal range and 11 percent from behind the arc. The Panthers did improve their shooting from the free throw line as a team, and shot 67 percent.

The Panthers had a total of 20 total turnovers as a team but the Gryphons edged them out as they had 21 total turnovers. Despite this, Sarah Lawrence made the most out of the mistakes as they scored 22 points off of turnovers compared to Old Westbury's 11 points from Gryphon mistakes.

All in all, the Panthers suffered another tough defeat as they fell to the Gryphons. The Panthers move to 1-5 on the year and will regroup and prepare for their upcoming matchup.

Old Westbury will next take on the Bears of Saint Joseph's University-Brooklyn at home on Saturday, December 9 in the Clark Center Gymnasium. The opening tip-off is set for 11am.