CRESSON, PA – Unable to pull themselves out of a first half hole the Lady Barons lost to Mt. Aloysius College 77-45.

The Mounties took control of the game from the start shooting 40.6% to the Barons 19.4%. Unable to compete with their opponent's offense Franciscan fell 37-18 in the first half.

"It was a rough night for us it didn't seem like we were ready to go from the tip," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "There was basically a lid on the basket for us and we just got down in a hole and had to work out of it."

In the second half the Lady Barons increased their shooting percentage to 26.7% and they fought to close the gap. Help on the offensive end came from junior Lacey Huck leading the team with 14 points and with freshman Katie Rhodes with 11 points of her own.

Franciscan struggled to keep pace with their much bigger and well rested conference opponent. The Barons had only two subs on the bench, while the Mounties took advantage of their fresh legs and scored 31 bench points to the Barons 3.

Fighting to the end, Franciscan was unable to stop Mt. Aloysius from another big run and the Barons were unable to dig themselves out of the hole. The lid was on the basket for the Barons and with the clock against them, the game ended 77-45.

The Barons struggled on the offensive end with their leading scorer, Iliana Gonzales: making only eight points well below her average of 17 points this year. The defense did not fare much better giving up 23 points off 19 turnovers.

"It was a frustrating game for us," Delaney said. "We have to get back to work and look forward to the next two days to get ready for our next matchup."

Moving forward, the Barons return home to face conference opponent Penn State- Altoona on Jan. 23, starting at 4pm.