McHenry, MD – The Lady Lakers tried valiantly to overcome a horrid start, but couldn't come all the way back Saturday night while dropping a 61-55 women's basketball contest to visiting Harford Community College.

Harford built a 15-4 lead late in the first quarter, but Da'shai Morton-Hall's layup off a Renee Timbers feed with 1:38 remaining pulled Garrett College within 56-55. The Owls nailed down the win by hitting 5-of-6 free-throw attempts in the final 43 seconds.

"We started converting their turnovers into points in the second half," said GC head coach JT Lewis, whose squad fell to 8-8. "I felt like we picked up our man defense and energy in the second half. Unfortunately, we have had a tough time closing out games this year."

Manuela Perez de Castro – who had an impressive double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds – pulled the Lady Lakers within 56-53 on a layup with 2:10 remaining. Morton-Hall's layup 32 seconds later made it a one-point game.

Harford's Eshe Knox (18 points) missed two free throws with 1:24 remaining, but the Owls controlled the rebound. That set up Charlie Henry's two free throws with 42.2 seconds remaining as Harford increased its lead to 58-55.

Timbers then missed a contested layup. Knox made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure Harford's win.

Morton-Hall finished with 13 points for GC. Madison Nimmo added 16 for Harford.

PHOTO CUTLINE

Garrett College's Da'shai Morton-Hall dribbles against Harford Community College's Briana Taylor while GC's Renee Timbers looks on. Harford held on to beat GC, 61-55, on Saturday night.