BUFFALO, NY – Franciscan University women's basketball fell to Medaille College, losing 83-45 in their last away game of the regular season.

The Medaille Lady Mavericks came in strong, shooting 50 percent. The Lady Barons did not match up and were down by 19 after ten minutes, with the first half score ending 49-16. Head coach Suzy Delaney said it was not the Lady Baron's best performance.

FUS picked up speed in the second half. Delaney said the Lady Mavs played an exceptional game and although Franciscan did not keep up, they did improve their shooting percentage and defense some in the last twenty minutes. With ten minutes to go, the Lady Barons were down 68-31.

The second half ended with Medaille only having outscored FUS by five, but because such a lopsided first half, the Lady Barons were unable to capitalize on their improvement and close in.

Even with a loss, Franciscan put forth strong effort and was led by junior Lacey Huck with 12 points. Freshman Katie Rhodes and sophomore Dani Link each contributed six. Freshman Iliana Gonzales led rebounding with nine while Huck had six.

Delaney said the game was disappointing after coming off of a strong performance against La Roche College earlier in the week, and after the Lady Barons' last game against Medaille. She said Franciscan's poor shooting led to the loss.

"We were shooting poorly and our defense wasn't good either," Delaney said. "When we are having a bad shooting night, the margin of error goes down. Unfortunately, we didn't pick up the slack defensively."

The Lady Barons have two more regular season games to learn and improve upon the day's performance. Delaney said they plan to gain insight from the loss and continue to move forward.

"We have to take this game and learn what we can," Delaney said. "This is our last week of the season and our senior's last week. We need to tighten our focus."

FUS plays next on February 19 at 8 p.m. against Mt. Aloysius College at home.