NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Pace University Women's Basketball team dropped a Northeast-10 Conference road matchup against Southern Connecticut, 59-52. In the loss, senior captain Margo Hackett scored a game-high 17 points on 6-10 shooting. The Setters now fall to 1-4, 1-2 in the NE-10 while the Owls advance to 1-3, 1-1 in the NE-10.

After four lead changes in the first six minutes of action, sophomore Alexa Dietrich sparked an 8-0 run that was capped off by a Yuni Sher free throw. Southern Connecticut responded with nine consecutive points of their own before Sher stopped the bleeding with a layup to put Pace back up 20-19. After the Owls closed out the half on a 10-0 run, Pace trailed at halftime, 29-20.

With the Setters trailing 11 early in the second half, Hackett splashed a three-pointer that cut the deficit to single digits. After converted layups by freshman Gabriella Rubin and Sher in the next minute, the Setters trailed by only six. The Owls piled on four more points before Hackett drilled another three and sophomore Kirsten Dodge connected on a layup that cut the Southern Connecticut advantage to five.

Pace once again trailed by 11 with 10:43 remaining in the game before Dietrich hit a layup that began a 7-0 run for the Setters. Pace trailed by four with 5:49 remaining when Hackett hit consecutive layups in just 27 seconds to give the Setters their first tie of the second half. Southern Connecticut rebuilt the lead to four points when senior Jaclyn Oskam netted a shot from behind the arc to make it a one possession game. Southern Connecticut ended the final 1:43 of play on an 8-2 run to win the contest, 59-52.

Hackett added six rebounds and a team-best four assists to her 17 points. Dodge scored six points, pulled down six rebounds, and tied a career-high with four rejections. Dietrich chipped in eight points, two rebounds, and two boards while Rubin contributed seven points and four rebounds.

Pace returns to action this weekend when they face off with non-conference Queens College on Sunday at 1:30 pm.