Box Score Monmouth took to the hardwood in Tuesday's Midwest Conference opener against the Grinnell Pioneers, but the Fighting Scots couldn't recover from a third quarter drought in a 69-52 loss at Glennie Gym.
 
The Scots came back from an 18-11 first quarter hole as Tia Robertson canned her first two shots of the second quarter and Katie Houston scored nine of her team-high 17 points in the frame. Houston's two free throws with one-tenth of a second on the clock pulled the Scots to within three at 34-31.
 
Grinnell came out of the gates hot in the first half, shooting nearly 50% from beyond the arc. The Scots managed to control the boards in the first half, out rebounding Grinnell by 11. First half turnovers proved to be the Achilles heel for the Scots, turning the ball over 11 turnovers times.
 
Although Grinnell's cumulative hot hand from deep was cooled in the second half, the Pioneers were able to open with a 12-2 run to open the gap as the Pioneers pulled away with a 24-5 advantage in the third period.
 
The Scots rallied in the final frame, cutting the margin to 17 at 61-44 on a Houston three at the seven minute mark, but that would be as close as the Scots could get.
 
The Scots managed to cut down on turnovers in the final two frames but it wasn't enough to pull out a victory. Tia Robertson and Kelsey Walsberg joined Houston in double digits for the Scots with 14 and 11 points respectively. Grinnell guard Alissa Hirsh led the Pioneers with 17.
 
Monmouth College basketball will host St. Norbert comes Saturday for a men's (1 p.m.) and women's (3 p.m.) Midwest Conference double header.