By Scott DeWeerd

The Albion College women's basketball team lost its second Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) game of the week Saturday night. Kalamazoo College ended the first half on a 7-0 run and it held on for a 56-50 win over the Britons.

Sophomore Darian Payne notched her fourth double-double of the season for the Britons with 15 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting.  First-year player Miranda Bates added 10 points and 4 rebounds.

Albion controlled the game early on and held onto a lead throughout the first 15 minutes of the game. Unfortunately for the Britons, the shooting went cold – after a Brett de Bear layup gave Albion a 16-15 lead with just under 5 minutes remaining in the half, the Britons would go on to miss 8 field goal attempts and turn the ball over 5 times just to find themselves trailing 22-16 at the half.

But the cold streak didn't end there.

"We came out flat in the second half," said Albion Head Coach Doreen Carden. "Our offense was stagnant. We had opportunities but we just couldn't finish. Props to Kalamazoo, they didn't let us get into a rhythm."

Albion scored two quick baskets to begin the second half, cutting the deficit to two.  However, they immediately went on another long scoring drought – this one lasting over 8 minutes – and Kalamazoo would take a commanding lead down the stretch.

"We really need to slow down," said Carden. "The freshmen need to adjust to the speed at the college level. We'll get there."

Kalamazoo capitalized on Albion's mistakes, scoring 19 points off of turnovers.

The Britons shot just 29% from the field throughout the game. It should be encouraging to the young Albion squad that despite a cold shooting performance, they still found themselves with a chance to win at the end.  

"We're only two games into the season, so there's a lot of time to get back on track," Carden pointed out. "We can't let this week's losses define our season. We'll get there."

The Albion women return to the floor next Saturday when they travel to Adrian College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.