GROVE CITY, P.a. – Franciscan University women's basketball lost 63-51 to Grove City College in a tough, non-conference game after coming back from a 25-point deficit.

FUS was outsized and outnumbered by the Grove City Wolverines from the beginning. Franciscan shot poorly in the first half and found themselves down by 11 just nine minutes into the game. The rest of the half didn't go much better with FUS down 36-15 at the half.

The second half was a different story with the Lady Barons showing their determination and mental toughness. After being down 25 points three minutes into the half, FUS began to close in on the Wolverines and almost brought the lead back to single digits.

Head coach Suzy Delaney said Franciscan's improvement came from a more aggressive offensive effort.

"We dug ourselves a hole in the first half and got away from the things we wanted to do," Delaney said. "I was proud of the way, on a tough shooting night, we got back to the game plan. We attacked and we got ourselves to the free throw line in the second half."

The foul line proved to be the Lady Barons best weapon as they lived up to their ranking as the twenty-eighth best free throw shooting team in the country by going 24 for 33 from the line.

In the last ten minutes of the game Franciscan fought to stay close to Grove City, ending with a three-pointer from freshman Katie Rhodes helping FUS outscore Grove City by nine points in the second half (36-27).

Delaney also said the Lady Barons' defense and rebounding improved in the final twenty minutes.

Sophomore Dani Link stood out as the high-scorer for the Lady Barons with 13 points. Freshman Iliana Gonzales scored ten points with three rebounds, and junior Lacey Huck came one point shy of her eleventh double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.

"Dani definitely led us in the first half," Delaney said. "Iliana Gonzales had a nice second half. She attacked the basket, came back and gave us ten points after zero in the first."

Although a loss for Franciscan, the team's resilience showed as they battled for the entirety of the game despite the absence of sophomore guard Monica Dawyot. Moving forward, Delaney said she plans to use this experience to keep working and improving as a team.

"We need to get back to having composure and discipline from the beginning of the game so that we don't put ourselves in the position that we did tonight," Delaney said.

The Lady Barons play next on February 8 at 4 p.m., at home against Penn St.- Behrend.