GARDEN CITY, NY – The Pace University women's basketball team battled from an early deficit to take a halftime lead, but the Setters dropped a heartbreaker to the LIU Post Pioneers 58-56 on Saturday afternoon.

Margo Hackett led the way for Pace with 18 points including four three-pointers. Her final triple of the night was the 121st of her career, which tied Hackett with Lisa Welsome for fifth on the all-time Setters list. Kirsten Dodge scored 15 points and added seven rebounds and two blocks for the Setters.

After falling behind 11-2 just more than five minutes in, Pace (0-2) jumped on a 20-4 spurt to take a 22-15 lead with 6:50 to go in the first half. Hackett keyed the run, scoring 11 points for the Setters during the span. The two teams played evenly throughout the remainder of the half as Pace took a 32-25 lead to intermission.

In the second half, the Setters kept LIU Post at arm's length at the free throw line, hitting 13 times from the charity stripe, but struggled to a 5-for-17 performance from the field. The Pioneers chipped into the Pace lead and took a 58-55 edge with 1:11 remaining. A Yuni Sher free throw made it 58-56 with 44 seconds left. After a defensive stop, the Setters had an open look for the lead, but a three-pointer came up short.

Pace returns to action on Wednesday at 5:30 pm when they open both their home schedule and Northeast-10 Conference play with a contest against the Saint Rose Golden Knights.