FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin (SabreAthletics.com) – A second-half surge wasn't enough for the Marian University women's basketball team after visiting Edgewood College built up a 15-point halftime lead and hung on for a 62-54 win inside Sadoff Gymnasium, this afternoon, Dec. 20.

With today's game being the final one before Christmas, the Sabres (7-2, 4-2 NACC) might be asking Santa Claus if he can help refine their jump shot after a 24.6 percent (15-for-61) performance from the field in their loss to the Eagles (3-7, 3-4 NACC). Marian shot just 18.8 percent (6-for-32) in the first half and Edgewood closed out the first 20 minutes with a 16-7 run to take a 39-24 lead into the break.

A few quick spurts to get the Sabres back into the game in the second half were thwarted by timely answers by the Eagles, who shot over 37 percent from the field in the win.

Marian was led by Sarah Olewinski's 17 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Amelia Mirsberger scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, draining 3-of-7 attempts from downtown. Edgewood was led by Rachel Pope's game-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while Hannah Menzia added 11 and Mariah Hill chipped in 10 points.

A 3-pointer from the wing by Nicole Paulus and an Olewinski jumper quickly gave the Sabres a 5-0 lead to start the game. At the 14:55 mark, Jessica Roberts knocked down a 3-pointer for her only bucket of the game to give Marian a 10-9 advantage, but that would be its final lead of the contest.

Edgewood embarked on an 8-0 run, building a 17-10 lead, and would add to it by plenty before halftime.

The Sabres regrouped at the break and cut the deficit to 6 points within the first 3 minutes as Olewinski connected from downtown and Mirsberger hit back-to-back treys to make it 39-33 with 17:32 left.

The Eagles built the lead back up to 10 points on Sierra Jiran's bucket with 11:56 left to make it 50-40, but Mirsberger gave her team hope with another 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to 7 points with 8:27 left.

Trailing 55-47 with 5:00 remaining, Marian made one final push as Emma Jarvey converted two free throws followed by a Brandi Bender pull-up jumper in the paint to make it 55-51. But then, Edgewood cut through the Marian defense as Mariah Hill pushed the lead back to 6 points and the Eagles cruised from there.

For the first time this season, the Sabres looked inept offensively, evidenced by their poor shooting percentage and lack of bench scoring. The Eagles' bench outscored the Sabres 16-9 in the win. Marian closed the rebounding gap in the second half to be outrebounded by just four, 42-38, but could only convert seven second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds.

Marian will have a long break to try and rebound from this disappointing setback, playing host to a pair of non-conference foes UW-Superior and Northland Dec. 29-30.