PAINESVILLE, Ohio - Stepping away from a string of Mountain East Conference foes, the Salem women's basketball team hit the road this afternoon for a matchup with the Storm of Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. The Tigers opened up the contest well, but were undone by a second half Storm rally to fall 79-63. 

In the first quarter, the Tigers jumped out to a great start. Liliani Krause controlled the paint for the Tigers, and put up 11 points in the period. Salem held a 20-9 lead after the first.

In the second, the Storm started to find their footing, and slowly began to build momentum. Salem kept the game close, and protected their lead with a pair of key buckets from Taja Stephens and Cassandra Smith late in the quarter. Therefore, the game went into the halftime break with a slim 27-24 Tiger advantage. 

After the intermission, Saleem found some much needed scoring from Carmen Vasquez and Kamryn Ruffin. However, the Storm broke off a strong offensive run coming out of the locker room to take the lead. Salem answered right back, but Lake Erie took control of the game 48-43 going into the 4th quarter. 

In that final frame, Salem had to contend with the Storm's best offensive quarter of the contest, and needed to find some offensive production of their own. Cassandra Smith found some of that scoring punch for the Tigers, but it was simply not enough to overcome the Storm. Therefore, the Tigers fell 79-63 up in Painesville. 

On the stats sheet, Salem was led by a season high 24 points from Liliani Krause. Cassandra Smith finished with 19 points, and Carmen Vasquez finished with a double double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. 

Despite the loss, the Salem women's basketball team still has a shot to get back on track ahead of the holiday break. They head down to NCAA Division I program Chattanooga on December 21st at 2 PM for an exhibition matchup.