WILKES-BARRE, Pa.- A short-handed Eastern University Women's Basketball team dropped a 71-60 decision at King's College. The Eagles, playing without top-scorer Meghan Nowak, trailed 18-5 midway through the first half and were never able to close the gap to less than nine down the stretch. Kaitlyn Dougherty scored a career-high  21 points in the loss.

The host Monarchs shot 54 percent from the floor to open up a 42-21 lead at intermission. Senior guard Celia Rader scored eight points in the opening period. Her final basket of the period put King's up 34-18 and gave her 1,000 points for her career. Led by Rader and fellow senior Molly Dahl, King's made 6-of-10 from distance in the half. Dahl led all scorers with 13 points. Dougherty led the Eagles with 11 at half.

As much as the Eagles missed Nowak's offense, her rebounding and defensive presense were also noticibly absent. The sophomore center averages over 10 rebounds a game, and her absence allowed King's to outscore the Eagles in the paint by a 34-6 margin for the game.

The Eastern defense was considerably better in contesting the Monarch shots in the second half, but the deficit was too great and King's made 13-of-17 foul shots to hold off a late charge from the Eagles.

Eastern scored 20 points in the final nine minutes. Gina DiDomenico and Dougherty both scored 10 second-half points to lead the Eagles. The loss drops the Eagles (8-12, 4-5 Freedom) back inot a tie for fourth with Misericordia in the Freedom Conference standings. DiDomenico finished with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. King's guard Kaitlin Michaels scored a game-high 26 points and was a single rebound short of a triple-double.

Eastern hosts Delaware Valley College on Saturday. As part of Eastern's Season of Impact, the gate from the Saturday doubleheader will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.