BALTIMORE - Senior midfielder Katana Nelson notched her 10th hat trick of the season, but the UMBC women's lacrosse team suffered their first defeat in America East Conference play, falling 16-12 to the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Saturday afternoon at UMBC Stadium. 

Nelson scored three goals in the match, while junior Lauryn Warfield contributed two goals and an assist. Freshman attackman Emily Knapp also scored two goals, and junior midfielder Libby Staples added a goal, an assist, and a team-high four ground balls. 

Despite winning 18 of 28 draw controls, UMBC (10-3, 3-1 AE) struggled against UMass Lowell's defense, which forced 18 turnovers. River Hawks' goalkeeper Alexa Kuhn made nine saves during the contest. 

UMass Lowell (10-2, 4-0 AE) never trailed, with Goldie scoring two goals in the first 3:34 of the game. Nelson converted on a free position opportunity with 9:31 left in the opening quarter, but the visitors scored four of the next five goals, ending the first period with a 6-2 lead. 

At halftime, UMBC was down 8-4 after Knapp and Nelson scored unassisted goals late in the second quarter. 

The River Hawks extended their lead in the second half, scoring four of the first five goals to make it 12-6 with 9:02 remaining in the third quarter. 

UMBC responded with a 3-1 run, narrowing the gap to 13-9 with 12:52 left in the fourth quarter, thanks to a goal from Warfield assisted by junior Lizzie Bateman. 

However, UMass Lowell answered with three consecutive goals, establishing their largest lead of the game at 16-9 with just 6:25 remaining. 

Jillian Goldie led all scorers with six goals and also provided three assists, while Chloe Bowers and Jade Catlin each scored three goals. 

UMBC will host non-conference opponent Akron on Friday at 3:30 p.m.