HOLLAND, Mich. – The Pitt-Bradford women's basketball team dropped its opening round matchup of the Hope College Tip-Off Tournament versus host and No. 4 Hope College, 76-44, on Friday night.

Pitt-Bradford (1-1) suffered just its first loss of this young season as the Lady Panthers went toe-to-toe with a strong Hope College (2-0) squad on its home court.

Freshman Ali Renfrette paced the Panthers offensively with 13 points, three rebounds and one assist on the night, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Junior Abby Brate was just behind Renfrette with 10 points and two rebounds to round out the top performers.

Hope College's Maura McAfee registered a double-double for the home team with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

The Lady Panthers allowed the Flying Dutch to take a commanding early lead. Midway through the period however, Pitt-Bradford roared back and cut the deficit to 40-19 by the time the buzzer sounded.

Pitt-Bradford shot 25.9 percent from the floor in the first half and was 5-of-9 from the line.

In the second period, the Flying Dutch put together a strong showing for the home fans and did not allow the Panthers a chance to get back into the contest.

Sophomore Darien Lantz drained a three-point shot with 23 seconds remaining to bring the game to its final tally.

Pitt-Bradford finished the night shooting 26.3 percent from the court. The Panthers were 11-of-18 from the charity stripe.

"I am so proud of my team for playing with great effort against a very good Hope College team," said head coach Patrick Daniel. "Tonight showed us we have many things to work on and we look forward to accepting the challenge of learning and improving from this game."

With the defeat, Pitt-Bradford will face Otterbein University at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the consolation game of the Hope College Tip-Off Tournament.