PORTLAND, Ore.—After holding the lead for big chunks of the second half, the Concordia women's basketball team couldn't get a break down the stretch and lost a nail-biter 67-65 to visiting Cal State San Marcos on Thursday.

Both teams held the advantage late as the lead changed hands seven times over the final 3:24 and three times within the final minute of the game.

CU's Grace Cappleman put Concordia (1-2) up with 1:40 to go after she stole the ball from Cal State San Marcos' Sidney Dobner. Once with the ball, Cappleman and Megan Padilla ran a quick give-and-go to set Cappleman up in the paint for an easy bucket for the 63-62 lead.

Cal State San Marcos (2-4) responded, though, putting in a lay-up of their own with 44 seconds left in the game and took the advantage back at 64-63.

Senior point guard Courtney May then pushed the ball up the court following the basket and found Padilla on the left wing. May's pass fed Padilla into an open lane to the bucket and and the guard took advantage with another lay-up to put the Cavs back up at 65-64 with 34 seconds to play.

CSUSM followed with a quick shot on the other end that CU's Brittney Yates rebounded, giving the Cavs the ball with the lead and the shot clock off with only 22 seconds remaing. However, CSSMU's pressure on an inbound following a timeout forced a CU turnover, which led right to an easy bucket that gave CSUSM the lead once again at 66-65.

Now with 10 seconds left, Concordia called a timeout to set up a last-second shot. CU's Padilla got the ball following the timeout, but never got a good look and fouled CSSMU's Cassie Damyanovich after losing possession. Damyanovich made the first, but missed the second free throw and Concordia couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

The Cavaliers did well to get back in the game early, though, as CSUSM ran out to a quick 14-4 lead. Concordia responded by turning up the pressure defensively, throwing a press at CSUSM that forced seven turnovers over the next four minutes of the game. The Cavs converted those turnovers into fast break opportunities and went on a 14-2 run to take an 18-16 lead with 10:54 left in the first.

Concordia would drop down again later in the half, though, as San Marcos took a 27-22 lead with 6:54 on the clock. However, the Cavalier defense got the team back in it again as CSSMU would not make another field goal in the first half, giving Concordia the chance to go on a run. The Cavs took advantage and outscored CSUSM 15-4 through the rest of the period.

Concordia then opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play from Malori Dixon to take their largest lead of the game at 40-31. The Cougars scored 10 of the next 12 though to get back in the game and set up the dramatic finish.

Overall, both teams struggled against the other's aggressive defenses as the team's combined for 66 turnovers in the game. Concordia also had to make up for a 39-to-33.3 advantage for San Marcos in field goal percentage, which they did, converting 25 free throws to CSUSM's 17. San Marcos also gave Concordia trouble on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 47-to-40. Michel'a Logan especially annoyed the Cavs on the boards, grabbing seven offensive rebounds for a game-high total of 12. Logan also led the Cougars with 18 points and four steals in the game after coming off the bench early in the first.

For Concordia, Padilla's 18 led the way, while Dixon added 13 of her own. Behind them, Yates, Cappleman and Rachel Scarpelli scored nine, eight and seven, respectively for Concordia. Dixon also led the Cavs in rebounds with nine, one more than Cappleman who had eight. Finally, Padilla and May led the stiff Concordia press that caused so many CSUSM turnovers as each had four steals in the game.

Concordia will again get the chance to quickly wipe away the taste of the close loss, though, as the team returns to action tomorrow on the road against Willamette at 7 p.m.