GREENSBURG, P.a.– Despite a strong showing and a game of close back-and-forth basketball until the final seconds, the Lady Barons couldn't hang on in overtime and lost to conference opponent Pitt. - Greensburg 68-62. Despite the tough game, freshman Iliana Gonzales had a career night, scoring a game high 30 points.

The Lady Barons went into the game expecting a particularly tough game. Franciscan played with good consistency, coming out of the first half only a point down. The Lady Barons flipped the script on the Bobcats in the second half outscoring Greensburg 29-28 in the final 20 minutes, sending the game into overtime.

"A match up against Greensburg is always a 40 minute battle," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "It's back and forth, punch counter-punch. We put ourselves in position to win, we just couldn't get the job done tonight."

Gonzales, the third leading scorer in the AMCC, not only scored 30 points, but also was perfect from the free-throw line and shot 64 percent from the field. Her two biggest plays came at the end of regulation, hitting a short jumper and two free throws in the final minute to force overtime.

"Iliana did a nice job tonight of driving and taking the ball to the basket," Delaney said. "She had a great game. They couldn't stop her."

In addition to Gonzales, junior captain Lacey Huck and newcomer Dani Link were also major contributors to keeping the Lady Barons competitive. Both Huck and Link finished with a double-double, while senior captain Helen Raines scored six points.

"Dani Link and Lacey Huck having double-doubles is huge for us," Delaney said. "They played a really strong game."

The final six minutes of regulation saw the lead change with regularity, and the Lady Barons came up with the final possession. A missed buzzer-beater sent the game into overtime where an already small Baron roster had to play another five minutes. Link, Gonzales, and Raines all played at least 43 minutes, with Huck playing all 45.

Despite the loss, Delaney said she is proud of her team's effort on both sides of the ball.

"It was a rough loss, but our girls just played well," Delaney said. "I'm really proud of their effort. They put the work in but it went the other team's way tonight."

Delaney said the team has set their goal to be in the top six teams in the conference and the Lady Barons sit two spots behind that goal. Their road game against D'Youville on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m.

"We just have to keep going. We're going to get up tomorrow and keep moving forward," Delaney said. "We play D'Youville on Saturday and we're just trying to keep pushing and keep the level of play that we've had this season on both ends."