STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—In a game that came down to the wire the Franciscan University women's basketball team fell short losing to Penn State Altoona 80-77. The Lady Barons were down 38-26 at halftime but once again came back in the second half with an extra spark of energy.

"We battled back into the game and put ourselves in the position to win it," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "I am thankful for that and proud of the girls."

The two teams played evenly matched in the first half until the Lions took a run and the Lady Barons couldn't keep up. Franciscan's energy started to emerge, however, in the end of the first half.

Franciscan's last score before halftime was a play that started on the outside with Lauren Shaffer passing it into the post to Lacey Huck who then kicked it back out to Iliana Gonzales to make the jumper giving them a burst of confidence.

"Being down we couldn't play them even in the second half we had to work even harder," Delaney said. "It was a nice comeback, our girls were attacking and looked confident in their shots."

The leading scorer for the Lady Barons was freshman Katie Rhodes with 21 points. She started the game off for Franciscan making the first points of the game sinking two foul shots and then coming back on the next possession for a successful jump shot. Her second half play brought 17 more points to the team.

The game was a display of overall teamwork as Huck ended with 17 points and 10 boards, Gonzales with 16 points and 3 steals, and Dani Link with 13 points and 3 steals. The team out rebounded the Lions and outscored them in the second half.

"We had a really balanced effort," Delaney said. "At halftime we talked about limiting them to one shot, boxing out, boarding and making our shots."

The FUS players proved they were ready to take that challenge as they stepped up their level of play in the second half. With a total of 14 turnovers in the first half the team took better care of the ball only allowing 4 in the second. They also improved their shooting percentage from 37% in the first half to 54% in the second for a 46.8% overall.

The turning point in the second half came when there were 11 minutes left in the game and captain Lacey Huck made a layup and drew a foul. She then made her foul shot pushing the Lady Barons into the lead with a score of 53-52. From that point on the teams went back and forth towards a nail biter finish.

"I'm proud of our effort and the way the girls are always battling but we have to stay focused and can't lose sight of our match ups," Delaney said. "It just comes down to a few plays or shots in the end."

And in the end it came down to a few heart wrenching plays as the Lady Barons saw a game that was so close end in a 3-point loss. Throughout the game FUS struggled with fouls and sent the Lions to the foul line enough for them to garner 20 points from there alone.

"We just have to take what we've got from the loss and keep getting better and keep pushing each other while also resting," Delaney said. "We just have to keep pushing through it."

This was the team's fifth game in 9 days and they continue to push forward in their conference season as they play at Hilbert College on Saturday Jan. 25 at 4pm.