Washington, D.C. – Marymount University's women's basketball team dropped its first game of the New Year with a 59-56 loss to Manhattanville at the 2011 Fairfield Inn Holiday Tournament hosted by Catholic University.   The Saints snap a three-game winning-streak in the loss.

Junior guard Sam Spencer led the Saints (4-5) with a game-high 18 points behind a 5-for-7 performance from three-point territory while senior Amanda Billy added 14.  Senior Maame Amponsah led all players with 17 rebounds, senior Beth Wiggins had three blocks and junior Shannon Gough tied Billy and Wiggins with four assists in her season debut.

Manhattanville (6-4) took the early momentum, leading by as many as eight points just over five minutes into the game.  Chipping away at the deficit, the Saints would take their first lead at the 3:45 mark on a Spencer trifecta.  Trading leads the rest of the stanza, the teams headed into halftime deadlocked at 28-28.

Marymount led the second frame for the majority of the first 10 minutes and was up by as many as six in that span.  Battling back-and-forth the rest of the way, Manhattanville posted a five point lead with 40 seconds to play the Saints couldn't overcome despite a Billy three cutting the deficit to just two with 26 ticks remaining.

Four Valiants scored in double-figures, led by Simona Gordon with 15.  Courtney Turner added 14, Taylor Wilson had 12 and Carey Hickey chipped in 11.

Marymount returns to action on Sunday in the consolation game against Staten Island at 6 p.m.