STEUBENVILLE—The Franciscan University of Steubenville Lady Barons hosted the Medaille College Lady Mavericks Saturday afternoon, and despite a stronger second half effort, fell to the visiting squad 63-49.

After Mt. Aloysius College defeated the Lady Barons on Thursday, head coach Luke Heusel commented that he was ready to challenge the team to come out and improve on all aspects of their game against Medaille. And regardless of tonight's loss, Heusel was impressed with Franciscan's performance. "Tonight they put out more of their potential," said Heusel. "That was these girls responding, and they should be proud of their effort."

The second half saw some hot shooting from the Lady Barons, who were playing with just a seven-player roster on the afternoon; most notably they shot 43% from three-point range. Christine Conrad, who led the Lady Barons with 15 points on the night, had two three-pointers in the second half. Caitlin Donovan and Hannah Flanagan both tallied two three-pointers a piece as well. "We worked ourselves back into the game," Heusel said. "Those threes kind of charged us up and we continued to battle on defense."

Despite the Lady Barons giving a greater intensity on both ends of the floor, the Lady Maverick offense was too strong, and Franciscan was upended, 63-49.

The loss drops the Lady Barons to a season record of 1-7, and the team has lost its first three Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference games of the year. The Lady Barons take a short break for the holiday season and return to the court January 5, hosting the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m.