ALBION, Mich. -- It was a tale of two halves as a second half letdown hurt the Albion College women's basketball team in a 70-53 loss to No. 1 Hope College. The Britons trailed by just six points at the half, but the Flying Dutch added to their lead out of the half to hold off Albion.

Junior Cierra Cole had a brilliant day for the Britons, scoring 11 points, grabbing five rebounds, tallying three assists and four steals. Cole also got her hands in a number of jump balls and played exceptional defense.

Sophomore Rebecca Ross was the only other Albion player to score in double figures, adding 11 points.

Hope broke out to a 10-2 lead and led 21-12 after one before the Britons found their groove in the second quarter. Two buckets and a free throw brought the hosts within four points before the Flying Dutch answered with a layup. Ross followed up a steal with a triple, putting the Britons within three points midway through the second.

Albion could not come closer in the period, but never led the game get away from them as they trailed 34-28 at halftime.

After a tight-knit third quarter, Hope closed out the period on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 12 points. The lead would be enough for the nation's top team, as they held off the Britons and extended their lead in the process.

The Britons forced Hope to commit 20 turnovers in the contest. Hope used their bench to their advantage, outscoring Albion's 40-14. Albion was outrebounded by the visitors, 51-33, where Hope would go on to score 16 second chance points.

Kalamazoo pays a visit to Albion on Monday night for a 7:30 p.m. tip off. The schedule is subject to change, and as always, we will keep you updated at gobrits.com.