WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Catholic got out quickly on the Elizabethtown College women's basketball team Wednesday night at Franny Murray Court and rode that fast start to an 87-70 win over the Blue Jays, who dropped their first in conference play this season. Veronica Christ had a team-high 16 points and Lydia Lawson became the 27th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

Mikayla Ruth tied the game at 2-2 in the first minute of play, but from there, Catholic (13-3, 4-1 Landmark) went on a 27-3 run over the remainder of the first quarter. Ruth had four of the team's five points in the quarter as the Cardinals built up a 29-5 lead heading into the second.

Elizabethtown (8-7, 4-1 Landmark) managed to outscore CATHU in the second quarter. Yaya Cannon's three-pointer with 3:00 to go in the second made it a 16-point game, 42-26. Angie Hawkins' three-point with less than a minute also got the Blue Jays back within 16, the closest they would get in the first half. A late basket by Catholic put the score at 47-29 after two quarters of play.

The Cardinals hit on 50 percent of their shots in the opening half, including four threes. Catholic did plenty of damage on the boards as well, hauling in 30 rebounds, 12 on the offensive end, and generating 11 second chance points.

Though Elizabethtown played the second half at an even pace with the Cardinals, the first quarter did the Blue Jays in, in the end, as the deficit was too much to make up.

Jillian Nagy led E-town with eight second-half points on 4-for-7 shooting. Clare Marchese added six second-half points off the bench and Cannon had five. Christ sank all seven foul shots in the game and had a team-high three steals.

Kendra Stamper and Lily Doerschuk each contributed to the Jays' total. Stamper hit a pair of free throws while Doerschuk split a pair at the line.

The Blue Jays remain on the road, at Drew, on Saturday, January 25, at 4 p.m.