BRADFORD, Pa. – The Lady Barons lost a close 73-63 game to Pitt.-Bradford despite Lacy Huck's persistence and leadership on both offense and defense.

The senior captain's 19 points made her the team's top scorer for the game, closely followed by sophomore guard Illiana Gonzales, who scored 17 points. On the defensive end, Huck also made an impressive difference, holding Lady Panther forward Alicia Kimmel to just eight points.

"Lacy Huck had a great game on defense and really picked up on offense," said Head Coach Suzy Delaney. "I'm proud when I look at her, playing her last several games, and I can tell she is leaving it all out there."

A very close first half ended 36-35, with Bradford leading. During second half, the Panthers turned up the pressure, consistently driving to the basket, and beating Franciscan in field goal percentage (46.2% vs 41.8%), free throw percentage (88.9% vs. 78.6%), and rebounds (36 vs. 23).

"Pitt Bradford really found a way to get to the free throw line, and made a big difference," Delaney said.

On the other hand, Franciscan beat out the Lady Panthers on three pointers, shooting 35.3 percent compared with Bradford's 25 percent. Ultimately, the deciding factor in the second half was Pitt-Bradford's ability to drive to the basket.

"I was proud of our effort, but we struggled to be consistent in our execution, especially in the second half," Delaney said. "Pitt.-Bradford is a top team in our league so playing an even game required forty minutes of focused basketball."

The Pitt.-Bradford loss continues a three loss streak for the Lady Barons. However, the team is taking this loss as an opportunity to move forward and improve. Mentality is important, Delaney said, so keeping a positive attitude is vital for finishing out the season strong.

"We're just taking this game as an opportunity to continue to move forward and improve on the things that we struggle with," Delaney said.

The Lady Barons will play Carnegie Mellon at home at 6pm on January 27.