A tough second half, where they were outscored 35-15, was the difference Saturday night, as the Nipissing Lakers women's basketball team dropped their contest to the Queens Gaels.

A strong opening quarter, and overall, a strong half, wasn't enough for Nipissing, as they ran out of gas down the stretch and had to settle for a weekend split, defeating York Friday night, but falling short by a final of 71-42 on home court the next night.

Through the opening quarter, the teams were tied 17-17 and even after the half, Nipissing only trailed by nine, not an insurmountable deficit, however, the Gaels came out flying in the third quarter.

Through the first five minutes, they extended their lead to 47-27 which all but sealed the win, even though it was early in the half.

Nipissing fought back to get the score to 47-33, but wasn't able to close the gap enough to mount a true comeback late in the game.

It was the same story in the fourth, as Nipissing only managed to score 15 points as they saw their record fall to 1-3 early in the season.

Overall, coming away with a 1-1 weekend has to be a step in the right direction for the young team, who has already shown they are much improved from a season ago, which was their first in the OUA.

Claire Abbott led the Lakers attack with 10 points and Mackenzie Bahm scored eight for Nipissing.

The Lakers are on the road next weekend, facing Lakehead Friday night, before heading to Guelph for a matchup on Saturday night.