STEUBENVILLE, Ohio –The Lady Barons fell short against third place conference opponent Mt. Aloysius College 59-49. Senior captain Helen Raines led the team in her second to last basketball game, making four baskets from the 3 point line and ending the game with 14 total points.

The Barons started the first half aggressively, winning the opening tip off and carrying the ball down for a quick bucket. Franciscan led the Mounties until late in the first half when the Lady Barons fell in to foul trouble. Despite this, FUS kept the game close and ended the first half only four points behind Mt. Aloysius, 34-30.

"I felt the girls played hard: we got a lot of good looks on offense," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "In the first half we scored some threes and got to the line which kept us in the game."

In the second half both teams came out aggressive, the Mounties took the lead and Franciscan struggled to match their accuracy from the field. Shooting at only 24.2 percent in the second half and with no shots from the foul line, Franciscan fell into a twelve point deficit.

"In the second half, we still generated a lot of good looks but just didn't make our shots," Delaney said. That always gives a boost to the momentum. Defensively we played solid, making good cuts, and offensively we kept getting high percentage looks but just couldn't make them."

Despite their deficit, the Lady Barons found their second wind with help from senior Helen Raines. Making four baskets from the three point line, three of them coming in the second half, Raines led the team in scorer with 14 points on the night.

"Our girls look to Helen as their senior leader. She doesn't shirk from that responsibility and it showed tonight," Delaney said. "I was glad to see her nailing down those shots that she's so capable of making. Helen's just a hardnosed player and she leads by example."

The Lady Barons came back to within ten but were unable to close it out against their tough opponent ended the game ten points behind 59-49.

"We're young and continuing to build our team and program," Delaney said. "This is our last week and we're going to be ready to play hard for Helen on senior day this Saturday against Bradford."

The Lady Barons play their final game of the season at home Saturday Feb. 22, starting at 3pm.