Up against a very tough opponent and one of the top teams in the OUA, the Nipissing Lakers women's basketball team knew they had their hands full.

While they battled and showed heart, like they always do, they did fall to the Ryerson Rams by a final of 80-44 Friday night at the RJS Athletic Centre.

Ryerson started strong, stretching the court and shooting well early on.

They used that to build up a 22-11 advantage after the first quarter.

The Rams posted another strong quarter, outscoring Nipissing 20-9 to take a 42-20 lead into the halftime break.

Nipissing had their best quarter in the third, but so did Ryerson.

The Rams topped the Lakers 23-16 in the frame to head into the fourth quarter in control of the second matchup of the year.

In the fourth, with the game likely out of reach, the Lakers pushed, but it wasn't enough, as they came up short, falling to the 16-4 Rams.

The final score read 80-44 in favour of Ryerson after 40 strong minutes from both programs.

Michaela Branker led the Lakers attack with 15 points and Angeline Campbell added 14 in tonight's contest.

Nipissing hosts Toronto Saturday night at 6pm.