STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — The Franciscan University women's basketball team beat California Institute of Technology at home 69-50, ending their three-game losing streak. The Cal-Tech Beavers traveled all the way from Southern California to play the Baron's for the first time, finding in them a difficult competitor, with the FUS starting lineup all scoring in the double digits.

“I'm very pleased with how our girls came out,” FUS head coach Suzy Delaney said. “We had a few days off for finals, as well as a week without any games. We had to decide if we were going to come out flat, or play how we needed to play when we stepped onto the court tonight.”

Going into today's game was difficult for the Barons after coming off of three consecutive losses. The girls needed to play well in order to keep the season going, as they are now 2-2 in conference.

“Sometimes your body can get tired,” Delaney said. “So I was worried about today's game, but the girls made the necessary adjustments and came out on the attack.”

In the first half, the shots were not falling as well as the girls would have liked, but by the end of the first half, FUS had gained back their morale, with sophomore Helen Raines scoring two three-pointers in a row. Raines also assisted sophomore Allyson Cooney towards half time, passing for the layup that ended the first half with a Franciscan lead of 32-18. In a matter of minutes, FUS had gained eight consecutive points, giving the girls confidence to play hard in the second half.

“In the second half Cal-Tech started bailing three's,” Delaney said. “They wanted to make a comeback, but our girls weren't going to let the game get away from us.”

Coming into the second half, FUS played with authority. The girls countered every Beavers shot with an aggressive attack. Crushing the Beavers on the defensive, the Barons stayed composed and focused throughout the second half.

The sophomore trio of Lacey Huck, Amy O'Keefe, and Allyson Cooney led the Barons offensively, as they each notched a double-double. Huck had 18 points and 13 rebounds, O'Keefe had 15 and 10, and Cooney had 14 and 10. Helen Raines was the other Lady Baron in double digits as she had 10 points while also tallying five assists.

Freshman Monica Dawyot had eight points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, playing one of her best all-around games of the season in Coach Delaney's eyes.

As a team the Lady Barons took care of the ball very well, only committing nine turnovers compared to 19 from Cal-Tech.

“Our girls hung with them and continued to attack,” Delaney said. “We have two non-conference matches once we're back from Christmas break. We will be focusing on our consistency, no matter who our competitor may be. That is something we will continuously work on.”

The Lady Barons now have a Christmas break and will back on the floor on December 28, when they play Houghton at 7:30 p.m.