LUBBOCK, Texas — Southern Nazarene closed out the Arbor Hotels Classic hosted by Lubbock Christian with a 56-47 loss to St. Mary's (Texas) on Saturday afternoon.
 
After opening the season with three ranked opponents in the first four games of the season, head coach Trent May said after the game he hopes this tough non-conference schedule over the past two weekends will pay dividends once SNU gets into conference play.
 
"We had a chance tonight to turn the corner, but we did not seize the opportunity," May said. "We just need to match the desire with the correct effort and I think we'll be on the right track. We played a tough non-conference schedule on purpose in order to prepare for conference games and with our first GAC contest next on the schedule, it's time to put that competition to the test."
 
The Crimson Storm (0-4) faced their first non-ranked opponent of the season on Saturday, but the Rattlers (4-1) were solid as they knocked down 9-of-18 (50%) three-point attempts.
 
St. Mary's shot 37.9 percent from the floor and held the Storm to a 37.7 clip, including 31 percent from behind the arc. SNU turned the ball over a season-high 24 times, but forced 19 Rattler turnovers in the contest.
 
Abby Niehues led the way in scoring for the Crimson Storm as she registered 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds, three blocks, and three steals.
 
Alexus Jones found her rhythm on the offensive side as the sophomore scored in double-figures for the first time this year, as she finished with 12 points and three rebounds. Madeline Schroepfer and Adrienne Berry each finished with five points while Kennedy Gillette recorded four for SNU.
 
Southern Nazarene struggled right out of the gate Saturday, as they made just 3-of-14 shots in the first quarter and faced a 15-8 deficit in the opening period. The Storm shot 57 percent from the field in the second quarter, but had more turnovers (8) than shot attempts (7) in the period. St. Mary's outscored SNU 14-9 in the quarter and took a 29-17 lead into halftime.
 
SNU battled back in the second half, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The Storm cut the Rattler lead to 42-33 heading into the fourth, but St. Mary's knocked down a couple of threes in the final frame to close out the Crimson Storm.
 
Southern Nazarene will have almost two weeks off as they open their Great American Conference schedule on Thursday, November 29^th in Alva as they take on Northwestern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.