INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 24-ranked Marian University women's basketball team lost a battle against No. 14-ranked University of Saint Francis,84-76, on Saturday at the Physical Education Center. It was only the second loss for the Knights on their home court and dropped their record to 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the MCC.

Senior Megan Egenolf (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) led the Knights with 21 points, hitting two from beyond-the-arc.  She also went 5-of-5 from the free throw line.

The Cougars started the game on a 4-0 run before senior Theresa Fairbrother (Danville, Ind./Danville) hit a jumper and a three to spark a 10-6 run for the Knights to knot the score 10-10. MU came from behind again at the 10:53 mark when Egenolf tied the score at 16. The Knights would only see one more lead in the game at 5:46 when they went up 28-27 on a lay-up by freshman Rachel Turk (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield). Despite out-rebounding the Cougars, 23-16, including nine offensive boards to the Cougars one, MU shot only 43 percent (16-of-37) from the field and turned the ball over eight times which led to 13 USF points.

Saint Francis would jump out to a 47-40 lead at the beginning of the second half before the Knights would pull within two with 14:46 to play. The Cougars would go on to lead by as many as 11 in the half, including shooting 85 percent (23-of-27) from the charity stripe. Egenolf paced the Knights in the second half with 14 points.

MU pulled down 46 total boards to USF's 35, and hit eight three-pointers in the contest.

Head Coach Todd Bacon noted the Knights "inability to stop them off the drive, and our inability to convert inside," as a key issue in the loss.

Both Fairbrother and freshman Natalie Robinson (Wingate, Ind./Fountain Central) were in double digits for the Knights. Fairbrother had 13, with four assists and Robinson added 10, including two from beyond-the-arc. Sophomore Emily Smithson (Selma, Ind./Wapahani) had a game-high seven assists, while contributing eight points to the MU offense.

The Knights are back in action Wednesday when they travel to Taylor University to take on the Trojans.  Tip is slated for 7 p.m. LISTEN LIVE at www.muknights.com.