STEUBENVILLE, Ohio—An energized start, a solid defense throughout, and a nerve-racking finish weren't enough for the Franciscan University women's basketball team to pull out a win against Penn State Behrend as they lost 55-52.

"We expected a battle because they're a great program," head coach Suzy Delaney said of Behrend. "So I was really proud of our effort in the first half right away off the tip."

From the tip-off, FUS stayed patient on offense, aggressive on defense and worked as a team throughout. In the first half, the Lady Barons suppressed the Lions offense to the extent of forcing the shot clock to run out five times.

"Our defense played hard the entire game but offensively we were a little tentative for a stretch there in the second half," Delaney said.

Towards the end of the first half the Lady Barons started to lose momentum on the offensive end. Behrend came out in the second half ready to close the 29-22 gap with an energized offense.

The Lady Barons held the lead throughout the game until eight minutes were left on the clock. The Lions then tied it up at 41. Both teams battled back and forth until the end.

"We stopped attacking for a little stretch in the second half," Delaney said. "Then we were there again at the end attacking but it was just a little too late."

When it got down to the final minutes there was tension in the air but the players stayed composed. The Lady Barons played hard as a team helping each other whenever they could.

When Iliana Gonzales missed a free throw shot she picked up her own rebound and went back up but Katie Rhodes was there to get the second rebound and make a quick lay up.

"They're all solid players and that's how it's been," Delaney said. "We've had a really good balance of team work."

Junior captain Lacey Huck was the team's leading scorer with 16 points and 6 rebounds and sophomores Gonzales and Dani Link added 14 and 10 points respectively. Senior Helen Raines led the team from the key as she garnered 6 assists.

The Lady Barons now have a record of 4-16 on the season and 3-11 in their conference and move on to play La Roche College Feb. 12 at home at 8 p.m.