MATTAWA - A season-long inability to protect the basketball once again rose its ugly head against the Royal Lady Knights.

Taking on the full court pressure of the host Wahluke squad, Royal hung tough throughout the first half before their 46 total turnovers proved too much in a 51-23 South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) East loss Tuesday night.

Royal (1-9, 0-4) trailed 30-16 at halftime to Wahluke (1-10, 1-3) who rode a 12-3 third quarter to pull away.

"They put a lot of high pressure on us and we turned the ball over once again," Royal head coach Phil Daubel said. "We couldn't match their intensity level. We were down four in the second quarter but they went on a run and put us away."

Lindsey Christensen led Royal with 10 points.

The Lady Knights were also plagued by poor foul shooting, hitting only 6-of-15 from the charity stripe.