The Lady Saints faced their first loss yesterday night against Midland college, 71-58 in the opening round of the WNIT.

The Lady Chaparrals stormed out to a 12-0 lead to start the game and never looked back. The Lady Saints did not score until almost midway through the first quarter when Karolina Szydlowska nailed a three-pointer. Vanda Cuamba hit two free throws to cut the gap to 12-5 for Seward, but could get no closer the rest of the game. Midland held a 22-11 lead after one quarter and expanded its margin to 45-30 at the half.

In the third quarter, Seward was again plagued by a slow start. Midland scored the first 10 points and opened up a 55-30 advantage. The Lady Saints fell behind by as many as 26 points in the quarter before trailing 67-41 after three.

Szydlowska had 13 points and six rebounds, Leilani Augmon scored 12 points and Cuamba had nine points and four rebounds for Seward, which shot only 27 percent from the field on 19-of-69 shooting. The Lady Saints were outrebounded 46-34 for the game.

The Lady Saints will play again at Salt Lake Community College Bruins at 3 p.m. on Friday in the consolation bracket of the WNIT.