MORRISTOWN, N.J. – Sophomore guard Claire Tucker (Middletown, Md.) scored a career-high 28 points for Gallaudet University's women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon but it wasn't enough to get past College of Saint Elizabeth as the host Screaming Eagles won the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) contest, 66-61, at St. Joseph's Hall.

Gallaudet (5-17, 3-12 NEAC South) battled back in the second half after trailing 32-20 at halftime. The Bison erased a 10-point deficit, over a 12-minute span in the second half, and took their first lead, 55-53, on an Alexa Justus (Forks, Wash.) jumper at the 3:50 mark. Tucker increased the Bison lead to three, 57-54, on a basket 19 seconds later.  St. Elizabeth (9-12, 7-8 NEAC South) answered with a Sharolin Sanders (13 points, five rebounds) 3-pointer to tie the game for the tenth time.

Senior forward Lindsay Stergio (Montville, Conn.) gave Gallaudet its final lead with a basket at the 2:59 mark as GU led 59-57. She finished the game with her eighth double-double of the season with 11 points, 12 rebounds to go with four assists, four steals and one block.

The Bison turned the ball over four times in the final two minutes which led to seven points as St. Elizabeth outscored the Bison 9-2 in the last three minutes of play to secure the win. In the game, Gallaudet turned the ball over 31 times which directly led to 26 points scored by the Screaming Eagles.

Tucker scored 18 of her 28 points in the second half as she made 9-of-14 shots from the field for Gallaudet. She finished the game with 14 shots made out of 26 taken from the field and added four rebounds, three steals and one assist. Tucker's 28 points scored are the most by a Bison not named Easter Faafiti over the past four seasons.

Junior guard Stephanie Weiss (Wellington, Fla.) recorded nine points, six assists and two rebounds while sophomore Elena Ciccarelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) had five points, four rebounds in the loss.

The Screaming Eagles had three players in double figures led by Sanders' 13 points. Amerisse Rogers chipped in 12 points and six assists while Naquell Simmons tallied 10 points and three rebounds.

Gallaudet will face Penn St.-Abington (8-13, 6-8 NEAC South) tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 10) at noon in another conference game.