WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic University women's basketball team fell to the Saint Leo Lions on Saturday evening by a score of 70-61. The Sailfish fell behind early in the matchup and a comeback attempt came close but was thwarted by the Lions. 

The Sailfish went down early in the first quarter and found themselves down 13-4 just a little over four minutes into the game. After a timeout from head coach Manisha Redus, the Sailfish reset and started to battle back. Late in the quarter, Anabel Ellison drove in and finished through some contact and hit the free-throw to complete a three-point play to bring PBA within one. After a Saint Leo bucket, Kash Ayuso hit a jumper to bring PBA within one again to end the quarter.  

PBA started off the second quarter where they left off with a 4-0 run on layups from Ayuso and Darria Whitley gave the Sailfish a 22-19 lead just a minute and a half in. However, a quick 12-0 run capped off by a McManus three-pointer gave the Lions a 31-22 lead with 3:22 left in the half. PBA responded with buckets from Karyzma Pierre and Ayuso and pulled back within 4 at the halftime break.  

The third quarter was not exactly the way PBA wanted to come out of halftime. The Sailfish only shot 26% in the frame and thanks to eight points from Ellison and five from Ayuso, they were only down six heading into the final period.  

A 9-4 start to the final quarter for PBA, which included four free-throws from Carleigh Andrews and buckets from Ayuso and Ellison, brought the Sailfish back within one point of the Lions with just under six minutes remaining in regulation. However, that would be the closest PBA would get for the remainder of the game. For every Sailfish run, the Lions had an answer. Saint Leo iced the game by hitting 8 free throws in the final minute. 

Kash Ayuso led the way for PBA with 22 points on 9-16 shooting from the field while hitting 2-3 from beyond the arc. Anabel Ellison had 14 points while hitting 8-9 from the charity stripe. 

The Sailfish return to the floor on Wednesday evening when they head down south to take on Nova Southeastern on the road in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 5:30 p.m.