ORANGE, Calif. - The University of Mary was on the ropes of taking down the No. 3 team in the country but the Lady Buffs fought off the Marauders, 51-42 in a first round game at the CCA Division II Tip-off Classic.
 
Hannah Larson finished with a team-high 11 points as she was the only Marauders to finish in double figures. The senior from Bismarck, N.D., went 4-for-7 from the floor and hauled down four rebounds, dished out two assists and collected three steals in Mary's 2016-2017 season opener.
 
Mary shot 36 percent from the field for the game, making 17-of-47 shots, made half of its six three-pointers taken and held WT A&M to 13 percent (2-for-15) from beyond the arc but was outscored by nine points (19-10) in the fourth quarter.
 
The Marauders scored 22 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers, however, the turnovers were evident in the first game of the season for both teams.
 
Mary finished with a game-high 28 turnovers with every single player logging a minute committed a turnover for the Blue & Orange. Dani Williams finished with a team-high seven turnovers. Williams, logged 29 minutes of play and added seven points, three rebounds and two assists. She also collected two steals.
 
The Lady Buffs committed 22 turnovers in the game.
 
In a low scoring game neither team was able to score in double-figures until the third quarter. WT A&M took a 9-8 lead into the second quarter and Mary only scored six points in the second quarter but trailed just 17-14 at the break as both teams shot around 30 percent in the first half.
 
The second half featured a little more scoring as both teams scored in double-figures in the final two quarters of the game.
 
The score was noted up at 32-32 after the third quarter but the No. 3 team in the country remembered that they were the No. 3 team in the country and outscored the Marauders by nine points in the final quarter despite Mary shooting 42 percent from the floor in the second half.
 
Both teams finished with 17 second chance points as there were three times the game was tied and six lead changes.
 
The Marauders took a 32-26 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter after a Sawyer Kluge jumper but the Lady Buffs closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 32-32 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Kluge went 2-for-4 from the field with five points in 17 minutes of play.
 
WT A&M took its largest lead of the game with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter after a pair of Sydney Walton free throws. The Marauders cut the deficit to 48-42 with 37 seconds left after a Cassie Askvig two-pointer but with 29 ticks left the Lady Buffs led 51-42 and that was good enough for the victory.
 
Rachel Weir added seven points for Mary on 3-of-7 shooting and teammates Gabbie Bohl and Isabel Schmelzer tagged on four points apiece for the Marauders.
 
Freshmen Lauren Rotunda and Cassie Askvig went a combined 2-for-7 from the field with two points each.
 
The 42 points scored by Mary was the lowest since scoring 40 against the University of Minnesota Duluth on Feb 20, 2015.
 
The Marauders don't get much time off before its next game as Mary will play 2015-2016 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions, Colorado School of Mines at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4.
 
The Mines fell to Augustana 70-61 in its first game of the season and tournament.
 
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