SCRANTON, Pa. - Women's Basketball fell 81-58 in the final game of the Hilton Poinsettia Classic Wednesday afternoon to the host Scranton University Royals. The Eagles fell behind early and were not able to recover against the 16th ranked Royals.

Taylor Price scored a basket five seconds into the game to put the Eagles up 2-0. The Royals (9-0) responded with 18 straight points on the way to 25-10 lead at the end of the period.

"We played a better team that came out ready to play," said Head Coach Eric Houston. "Our defense was bad tonight."

The Royals hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second period. The Eagles held their ground for the remainder of the half, but a run to close the gap never happened. The Eagles trailed 41-21 at the break. These offensive struggles came less than 24 hours after Eastern scored 21 points in the first quarter The Eagles committed nine turnovers and made only 9-of-27 shots in the first half.

"Give Scranton credit they played very good defense the entire night," continued Houston. "They just clicked tonight."

Eastern's high-scoring front-court picked up early foul trouble and struggled throughout the game. Emily Lavin played only 11 minutes in the first half and did not score. Reggie Robinson played only six minutes before intermission.

The Eagles (7-2) closed the gap for periods of time in the second half, but they had no answer for Scranton hot shooting. The Royals made 18-of-28 (.642) shots in the second half. They shot 56 percent from the floor for the game.

Price and Taylor Azer led the Eagles with 17 and 15 points respectively. Price had five of the team's eight assists.

Sarah Payonk led all Scranton players with 20 points and ten rebounds.

"As a team, we need to learn from this and move forward," concluded Houston. "We must get better."

Eastern will take on Rowan University in the first round of the Cabrini Classic on December 30th.