LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western women's basketball team put together a solid effort that came up just short against a strong Ryerson group, as the Spartans lost 79-73 to the Rams Friday in preseason action at the Langley Events Centre.

Despite holding a 58-53 lead through three quarters, the Spartans were unable to hang on to their advantage down the stretch as Ryerson battled back to earn a six-point win.

The Spartans are now 2-1 in preseason, with their previous wins coming against UNBC and UBC Okanagan.

"Tonight's game was a great progression for us," said Spartans coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "From our earlier tests against UBCO and UNBC and some of the PACWEST teams, to now, we have steadily been moving forward. I think we let the size advantage intimidate us to start the game, but we kept talking about playing a full 40-minute game because teams tend to get 'shorter' as the tempo we can set continues.

"There were some great team plays, moments of great unselfishness where people worked hard to create for each other, and other moments of early season hiccups that we now have time to get back into the gym and correct, especially on the defensive end and taking care of the ball in critical moments. We let Ryerson dictate the tone in the first and last quarters and didn't push back as much as we needed to. However, that's something that we'll take with all the positive signs of growth that were demonstrated. We're really excited with our direction and our potential and look forward to the next challenge."

TWU will now prepare to host MacEwan Oct. 29 (6:30 p.m.) before a two-game set at home against North Idaho on Oct. 30 (6 p.m.) and Oct. 31 (3 p.m.).

The Ram led 28-19 after the first quarter, but TWU rallied in the second quarter to take a 38-36 halftime lead.

The Spartans kept pushing in the third quarter and went up 58-53 with 10 minutes to play.

In the fourth quarter, TWU trailed by three points late, but the Rams pulled away in the end.

-TW-