YANKTON, S.D. – Both teams entered the contest searching for their first Great Plains Athletic Conference win. It was the Lancers that walked out of the gym with the victory.

Mount Marty University defeated College of Saint Mary 77-52 in Wednesday night's game. With the win, the Lancers are now 1-2 in the GPAC and 3-5 overall. With the loss, the Flames drop to 0-4, 1-6.

The Flames really battled in the opening quarters of both halves, but the fourth quarter especially hurt CSM. Mount Marty outscored the Flames 20-17 in the first quarter and 17-11 in the second frame. College of Saint Mary trailed by just nine points at the intermission and then matched the Lancers 12-12 in the third quarter. But Mount Marty pulled away in the fourth frame by outscoring CSM 28-12.

"We got off to a great start tonight and we were really competitive through three quarters," CSM Coach Kirk Walker said. "Unfortunately, we got into some foul trouble and got a little short on our bench. It really affected us in the second half of the third quarter."

CSM shot 37 percent from the floor, 32 percent from 3-point range and 67 percent from the free-throw line. Mount Marty shot 42 percent, 32 percent and 68 percent, respectively. The Lancers won the turnover margin with just 15 compared to 26 from the Flames.

"Turnovers again played a big factor as we were on the short end of that by 11," Walker said. "The offensive rebounding differential didn't help us either."

Tia Murray led the Flames with 13 points and seven rebounds. Teammate Chainey Thompson scored 12, while Madison Camden also reached double figures with 11 points. Ava Schroeder and ShyAnne Mayhue both added six points.

"Tia played a good second half but foul trouble limited her minutes as well as ShyAnne," Walker said. "Chainey is definitely getting better and shot it well tonight.

"I felt like we showed progress overall with some of the things we did especially defensively, but ultimately we just didn't make enough shots. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and rebounding on both ends if we expect to be more competitive."

The Flames return to action Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against Morningside University.