The Canisius College women's basketball team lost 65-53 to Eastern Michigan University in the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Griffins fall to 1-3 on the season.

Sophomore Jen Morabito and junior Ashley Wilkes each had 12 points for the Golden Griffins. Morabito shot 4-for-8 from behind the arc while Wilkes also had six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Jen Lennox had 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting in 15 minutes off the bench.

Eastern Michigan (5-1) forced Canisius into 27 turnovers, which the Eagles scored 36 points off those 27 turnovers. The Eagles had 42 points in the paint but shot 37.1 percent from the floor. Canisius shot 41.2 percent on the day.

"It's very difficult to beat any team when you turn the ball over 27 times. Those turnovers along with some other mistakes such as missing wide-open layups kill momentum," Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. "We have to value the basketball and take better care of it if we want to win basketball games."

After Eastern Michigan jumped out to a 7-2 lead, the Griffs scored six straight points - getting two layups from Wilkes and a jumper from junior Allison Braun - to take an 8-7 lead. The Eagles responded with a 6-0 run to re-take a five-point lead, but the Griffs then used a 3-pointer from Morabito and jumper from Lennox to knot the score at 13-13. The Griffs extended their run to 11-3, capped by a layup from sophomore Jamie Ruttle to go up 19-15. Canisius scored four of the final five points of the half to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room.

With the score tied at 30-30 after a 3-pointer from Morabito with 16:44 remaining, the Griffs were held to three field goals during the next nine and a half minutes as Eastern Michigan built a 49-37 lead. Canisius would cut the lead to five points after two free throws from Wilkes at 4:46 to make it 50-45. The Griffs could never get any closer as the Eagles limited Canisius to six points the rest of the contest.

Natachia Watkins had 21 points on 8-for-16 points in 27 minutes off the bench to lead Eastern Michigan. Canisius held Tavelyn James to 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting, including 0-for-10 on 3-pointers, while Desyree Thomas had 13 points.

Canisius returns to the road on Wednesday, when the Golden Griffins play at Bucknell. Game time at Lewisburg, Pa. is set for 7 p.m.

Notes: Lennox has now scored six or more points in 11 of the last 14 games and in all four games this season... Sophomore Courtney VandeBovenkamp returned from injury and played 12 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing three rebounds... Ruttle has now scored eight or more points in 20 of the last 25 games... Wilkes is averaging 12.5 points in two home games this season... Morabito has made three of more 3-pointer in three of the team's four games this season... 25 of the points off turnovers came for Eastern Michigan in the second half when the Eagles scored 42 points... Canisius lost to Eastern Michigan for the fourth consecutive meeting as the Eagles lead the all-time series 6-2... Canisius starts the season 1-3 for the first time since the 2008-09 season.