WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Elizabethtown College women's basketball team closed out the 2019-20 season in the Landmark Conference semifinals, falling to Catholic, 77-65, Wednesday night.

With the loss, the Blue Jays finish the year 12-13, while the Cardinals improve to 21-5 and will take on the No. 1 seed, Scranton, in the Conference Championship. Elizabethtown has reached the Landmark Semifinals four straight years, and five of the last six overall.

Senior Lydia Lawson scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Junior Veronica Christ came one rebound short of a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine boards. Senior Marissa Emlet and sophomore Angie Hawkins each added 10 points apiece.

Senior Sydney Poindexter paced the Catholic offense, registering a double-double with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Joining Poindexter in double-figures in was freshman Amelia Baldo (13), sophomore Amanda Johnson (11), freshman Erin Thompson (10) and senior Megan Stafford (10).

Down seven (15-8) midway through the first quarter, Elizabethtown rattled off six straight points, capped off by two free throws from Lawson, making the score 15-14 with 2:45 remaining in the opening period.

After the Cardinals pushed its advantage back to five at the end of the first, E-town took its first lead since the opening two minutes of the game, as senior Mikayla Ruth stole the ball and found Hawkins for the jumper, giving the Blue Jays a 27-26 lead with 9:00 left to play in the half.

Tied at 35 with under five minutes to go before intermission, Elizabethtown snatched a two point lead going into the locker room, scoring seven of the final 11 points of the period. Lawson broke the tie with four seconds on the clock, sinking a fast break layup for the 41-39 advantage at the break.

The Blue Jays continued to add to their lead at the start of the third quarter, as Ruth dropped it in for two and the 43-39 advantage with 8:12 remaining in the period.

The two teams traded the lead four times, but Elizabethtown managed to move ahead, 55-54, after trading free throws to end the third.

After an Emlet layup made the score 63-59 in favor of the home team with 5:47 left in the game, Catholic began to creep away from the Blue Jays, outscoring Elizabethtown 14-6 down the stretch for the 77-65 victory.  
 
The Blue Jays were 28-75 (37.3%) from the field and 1-15 (6.7%) from three. The Cardinals made 25-63 (39.7%) overall and knocked down 4-19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc.

Seniors Lydia Lawson, Marissa Emlet and Mikayla Ruth conclude their careers combining for 64 wins, 2,758 points and four trips to the Landmark Semifinals, including a run to the Championship game in 2019. Elizabethtown returns 10 players for the 2020-21 season.