A valiant effort came up a little short as St. Ambrose was unable to dig out of a first-half hole in an 85-77 loss at Mount Mercy Saturday afternoon.

The Bees shot just 30 pecent in the first half, including a 25-percent mark (3-of-12) in the second quarter, to find themselves down 37-24 at the half.

SAU got within five points twice in the third quarter, first on a Madeline Prestegaard jumper to trim the deficit to 46-41 and then seconds later on a pair of Gabrielle Koelker free throws to cut the score to 48-43. Mount Mercy (1-2) immediately responded with a 7-0 run on the way to rebuilding a 60-47 lead entering the final period.

Trailing 67-53 with just over six minutes remaining, St. Ambrose made one final push.

A three-point play from Jamie Martens, two Kylie Wroblewski free throws and a jumper from Charlotte Flynn pulled the Bees to within 67-60. Martens and Flynn later combined for all six points during a 6-0 run that cut the score to 69-66 with 3:33 to play.

That was the first of three times SAU would close to within three points, but each time Mount Mercy had the answer. The Mustangs did just enough from the line, hitting 8-of-12 over the final three minutes, to hold on for the win.

After scoring just 24 points in the first half, the Bees came back with a 53-point second half, which included a 30-point fourth quarter. St. Ambrose shot nearly 61 percent from the floor after halftime.

The loss overshadowed some strong individual performances.

Flynn finished with a game-high 24 points. She was 9-of-15 from the floor, including a 3-of-4 mark from 3-point land. Martens was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in scoring 12 fourth-quarter points on her way to a 14-point night. Wroblewski also netted 14 to go along with a team-leading six rebounds.

Colleen Grady and Jaynee Prestegaard each pulled down five boards.

The Bees, now 2-2 overall, will next visit Clarke Wednesday night.