YORK, Neb. – The York University women's basketball team dropped a 55-49 decision to the College of Saint Mary Monday evening.

The Panthers are now 1-1 on the season.

Head coach Corinna Minjarez's team was led by Destiny Shepherd's 16-point performance. She also added five boards and had three steals. Olivia Adams, Amaya Payne and Lauren Perez netted six points apiece while Alesia Rand added five.

Adams pulled down 12 boards while Payne snagged eight. Payne registered three steals in the contest.

Shepherd hit a three-ball in the early going off a pass from Monique Contreras, knotting the score at 5-5. Trailing 9-5, Zoe Brown, Payne hit inside shots before Shepherd converted a three-point play for a 12-9 edge. Shepherd hit Adams for a jumper with under a minute to play in the quarter, tying the game at 14-14.

Down 21-17 with less than three minutes to play in the half, Sylvia Valentino hit a free throw. Shepherd's three-point bucket tied the game at the break, 21-21.

A 13-2 run by the visitors made it 34-23 in the third stanza. Adams got things going, hitting a free throw and a jumper to make it 35-26. Valentino hit two charity tosses just before the end of the stanza, bringing the Panthers within nine, 40-31, entering the fourth quarter.

York trimmed the deficit to seven when Payne took a pass from Shepherd for a lay-up just 14 seconds into the final quarter. Down 46-36, Rand netted four straight points. Moments later, Rand hit a free throw and Shepherd drilled a shot from distance, pulling the squad within four, 49-45. However, five straight points by USM made it a nine-point contest with 54 ticks remaining.

For the game, York hit 17-of-68 (25.0 percent) from the floor. The team canned four shots from downtown and made 11 free throws. The Panthers held a 51-46 rebounding margin. York had 25 points off the bench and registered 16 steals.

The Panthers return to action Thursday when they host Kansas Christian College at 6 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at Yorkpanthers.com.