ROANOKE, Va. (Nov. 20, 2015) – Despite a career-high 19 points from freshman point guard Bella Taylor, the Sewanee women's basketball team dropped a 69-60 contest, Friday, to open the Jean Beamer Holiday Classic in Roanoke, Va.

Eastern Mennonite, who received 56 votes in the latest D3hoops.com top-25 poll, opened the game with 20-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. Eastern shot the ball well the first 10 minutes, making 43.8 percent of its attempts. Sewanee struggled from the field early. The Tigers hit only 5-of-21 attempts in the first.

As play continued, Sewanee's offense picked up. The Tigers opened the second quarter with a three by Taylor. That sparked 9-4 run by Sewanee that cut its deficit to two, 22-20.

After Jess Rheinheimer made a jumper for Eastern, Sewanee answered back with a three by Savannah Rose.

Both teams then went cold from the field over the next four minutes. Eastern pushed its lead to eight, 31-23, as Lindsey Krisak completed a rare four-point play. However, Sewanee did not fold. The Tigers closed the half on a 7-0 run.

Out of the locker room, Sewanee took its first lead since 7:53 in the first quarter when Haley McDonough made a layup.

Eastern regained the lead after a brief 5-0 run. A layup by Taylor stopped the Eastern run with 7:21 left in the third. Unfortunately, Eastern answered back by closing the quarter on a 14-4 run.

However, like they have all season, Sewanee played well in the fourth quarter. A layup by Taylor opened a 9-2 run to start the fourth for Sewanee. In fact, after Taylor made a layup with 7:18 to play, Sewanee pulled to within three, 52-49.

Eastern answered back with an 11-4 run. That allowed the Royals to pull ahead by eight 61-53 with 3:32 to play.

Eastern then closed the game with a 6-2 run.

Overall, Sewanee made 32.9 percent of its attempts. The Royals were a little better from the field with a 26-of-63 (41.3 percent) effort.

Along with Taylor's 19 points, fellow freshmen guards Katie Wayne (13 points) and Corey Caulder (10) finished in double digits.

Rheinheimer led three Royals in double figures with a team-high 15 points.

Sewanee quickly returns to action with a 5:00 p.m. (EST) game against host Roanoke, Saturday.

For more information on Sewanee Athletics, please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com. You can also check the Tigers out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr.