NICK MERSCH
SPORTS EDITOR
The Lady Barons basketball team fought hard in its first game of the season, never letting up through to the last minute, but the effort was not enough to stop the balanced attack of the Bison on Monday night.
The first quarter of the game was a bit stagnant with only 5 field goals made total. Three of those five were Franciscan goals, one of which was a three pointer from freshman guard Angela Starre. However, the opposing team took care of their business at the free throw line going 9-10 in the quarter, giving them a 13-7 lead.
Starre continued to be the bright spot in the second quarter, being the only Lady Baron to score. She put up 5 points, knocking down her free throws and hitting another three that came off an assist from senior guard Raegan Stead. Unfortunately, the Franciscan defense could not hold the Bison forever, and they got moving offensively in this quarter, delivering 17 points total to pull away with a 30-12 lead.
The Lady Barons outscored the Bison in the third quarter 18-16 with another Starre three pointer off the pass from senior guard Gaby De Jesus, a pair of buckets from junior guard Kaitlyn Sonneberger and some Stead jump shots, one of which was from beyond the arc. However, the home team found themselves trailing going into the fourth quarter 46-30.
Franciscan continued its attack once again, outscoring the Bison in the fourth, but only by one. The two seniors, Stead and De Jesus, led the Baron attack, scoring the only field goals of the quarter, with 9 points between the two of them. The time on the clock expired, and the Lady Barons’ effort was simply not enough. The final score read 59-44 in favor of the Bison.
Head Coach Suzy Delaney wants to learn from this loss, but did notice some positives from the night.
Delaney said, “Obviously it’s not the result we wanted tonight but we saw some positives from everyone, and we are all hungry to get back to work tomorrow. We didn’t shoot well in the 2nd quarter, but I thought we played a much better 2nd half. Angela Starre stepped up nicely tonight and played a tough all-around game. I’m proud of Kaitlyn Sonneberger taking three of our team’s four charges. And Raegan Stead led us on the boards with six as well as knocking down 13.”