Box Score FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Facing their toughest competition of the season in top-ranked University of St. Francis (Ind.), the Indiana Tech women's basketball team played arguably their best game of the season, despite suffering their first loss in over a month, falling to the Cougars (14-0), 62-75.

The Warriors (9-4) played a solid first half, taking a 29-29 tie into the break and held the lead with 10:29 to go, unfortunately the Orange and Black couldn't finish, as they were outscored 31-17 over the final 10 minutes to suffer the loss in the second game of the SportONE Classic.

It was a back-and-forth first half with both teams leading twice and tying four times. St. Francis led by seven points on two occasions in the half, the latest coming at the 3:10 mark, 27-20, while Tech's largest lead was four, 17-13 with 9:59 to play. The Warriors closed the period on a 9-2 run, getting five points from Simone Russell, including a layup with four second to left to tie the score.

The Cougars outscored Tech 22-18 in the paint and 10-6 in points off turnovers, but the Warriors held a 5-4 edge in second chance points and a 7-0 margin in bench scoring. USF finished the half 13-for-27 (48.1%) from the field but sank just 3-of-11 (27.3%) free throws while Tech finished 11-for-26 (42.3%) from the floor, 1-for-4 (25%) from three and sank 6-of-10 (60%) free throws. Chelsea Carradine paced the Warriors with 12 points and six rebounds while Brooke Ridley led USF with 12 points and eight boards.

Tech came out ready to play in the second half, taking a four-point lead before trading baskets, with two ties and five lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the half. The momentum swung firmly in favor of the Cougars at the 10 minute mark, when Paige Frisch sank a three to take a two-point, 47-45 lead. A missed free throw by Tech and another Cougar three stretched the lead to five before back-to-back fouls sent Carradine to the bench with four fouls and allowed Akyah Taylor to add two points at the line. The closest Tech got the rest of the way was three points, 49-52 with 8:26 to play.

"We played really well for 30 minutes," said Tech Head Coach Jessie Biggs. "Unfortunately for us, the game was 40 minutes long. We have to learn to put together a full 40 minutes, I know our team is capable of doing it. Our emphasis all season has been on defense and we played well tonight, we just couldn't finish."

Tech finished the contest 20-for-52 (38.5%) from the field and 1-for-10 (10%) from behind the arc while converting 21-of-30 (70%) free throws. The Cougars shot less than 46 percent for just the third time this season and were held to 75 points or less for just the second time in 14 contests. USF finished 29-for-64 (45.3%) from the floor, 4-for-8 (50%) from three and 13-for-22 (59.1%) from the charity stripe.

Carradine finished with her seventh double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while Sabine Filippovica added 13 points and Rachael Kruse finished with 12.

Akyah led the Cougars with 23 points while Ridley finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

The Warriors conclude play in the 2013 SportONE Classic tomorrow at 4 p.m. when they host Spring Arbor, who fell to Trinity Christian, 49-61, in the first game of the day. St. Francis will play Trinity Christian following the men's basketball game at 2 p.m.