The Toll Gate Lady Titans fell 31-20 to the Exeter/West Greenwich Scarlet Knights on Tuesday night at home in non-league basketball action.

Exeter’s Melinda Fry led all scorers with nine points while teammates Amanda Hathaway and Avery LeBlanc chipped in six points each.

Point guard Natalie Aloisio netted four points for Toll Gate and Isabel Donnelly added three points, 13 blocks and nine rebounds.

Division III Toll Gate head coach Owen Paquet made sure his team’s last non-league game was against a Division II opponent to get them to increase their exertion.

“We’ve seen the competition through injury fund - West Warwick, (D-III) East Providence (D-I) and now tonight with Exeter /West Greenwich,” Paquet said. “So, our games are starting to roll. We see the competition. I didn’t want to set up any D-III preseason games because I wanted higher competition and to get the girls used to playing at a high level.”

“If we can get our offense rolling a little better and ball security, a couple more rebounds and not giving up so many second and third try’s, we’ll be alright,” Paquet said.

The Lady Titans showed some improvement from last week’s injury fund contest against West Warwick in East Greenwich.

“We showed some good fire and hustle tonight with some better ball security than we did the other night,” Paquet said. “The girls are starting to come around. A little more chemistry and nucleus is happening with the team and it’s expected.”

Exeter jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Lexie Philibert buried a corner 3-pointer. Then, Toll Gate took a one-point edge on a lay-up from Aloisio and a jump shot from Ella Grace Allen.

Next, Exeter got a baseline jumper from Abby Whalen which kick-started an 8-0 run that saw the Scarlet Knights take an 11-4 advantage.

Toll Gate finally put an end to the spurt when Samantha Bertrand assisted to Jazmai Thompson for a jumper that pulled the Lady Titans within five at 11-6 with 2:13 remaining in the first half.

Then with just 3.4 seconds left before the break, Fry buried a pull up jumper and gave the Scarlet Knights a 13-6 cushion heading into halftime.

Toll Gate inched within three at 14-11 4:30 into the second half when Samantha Arnold found Donnelly for a 3-pointer.

However, Exeter’s Hathaway sank a sky hook and LeBlanc followed it with a lay-up which initiated another 8-0 run that put the Scarlet Knights on top 22-11 with 8:06 to play.

Two minutes after that, Toll Gate’s Honor Meunier entered the contest and got involved right away, burying a corner 3-pointer to end the Exeter run while pulling Toll Gate within eight.

“Honor came off the bench and gave us a nice little spark, and for a freshman, it’s exactly what we want her to do, come off the bench and feel no hesitation to shoot,” Paquet said. “And, hopefully she can keep rolling with those 3’s. That would be nice.”

After that, Arnold made a pair of free throws and pulled the Lady Titans within 22-16 with 5:31 left.

Forty seconds later, the Lady Titans would get within 22-18 when Bertrand made a pair of free throws from the charity stripe.

Nonetheless, Exeter went on a 6-0 run following that, on four made free throws from Fray, plus a lay-up from Julia Cruz and that put the Scarlet Knights up 28-18 with just under three minutes to play.

The Lady Titans open league play on Monday when they travel to the Providence Career & Technical Academy to take on Central at 4p.m. Toll Gate then plays Central Falls at home a week from Friday at 7p.m.