BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Despite a solid defensive effort, the NCC women's basketball team dropped their season opener to NJCAA Division II Lackawanna College, 47-43, on Thursday evening.

The 4th ranked Spartans struggled on the boards against the larger Falcons and committed 22 turnovers, including 17 in the first half.

"I was happy with our defense," remarked Head Coach Art Wolfe, "but we really struggled to get a flow offensively ... it was a typical early season game, lots of turnovers ... you could tell there were some butterflys out there tonight."

Halie Cintron had 13 rebounds and April Andrews scored 16 points to lead NCC.

The Spartans, now 0-1 overall, travel to #1 ranked Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, NY) on Saturday.

Lackawanna improves to 1-0.