BETHANY, W.Va. - A strong fourth quarter was not enough to propel the Franciscan women's basketball team past the Bethany Bison in an 83-60 road loss.

Bethany came out with a lot of intensity and held a 13-3 lead halfway through the first quarter until the Lady Barons finally kicked it into gear, scoring the next four points.

"Tonight, we mentally arrived late to the game," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "Midway through the first quarter, we realized that Bethany was performing at a different speed than us. From there on out, we were playing catch up. When we have opportunities like tonight against deep, talented teams, we simply cannot afford late arrival."

The rest of the game continued in the same manner, with Bethany's depth and talent overwhelming Franciscan. However, after the Bison scored 31 points in the third quarter, the Lady Barons found themselves down by 32 points entering the fourth quarter but rallied to outscore their opponents 23-14, cutting the final deficit down to 23 points.

Senior guard Iliana Gonzales once again led all scorers with 21 points. The senior struggled in the first half but found her stroke in the second half by making some great drives and shooting 5-7 in the half. Gonzales also led the team in rebounds with six and finished with four assists and three steals.

"I was proud of Iliana Gonzales tonight," Delaney said. "She persevered through the pressure to do her part to keep us in the game. Her teammates now have the challenge to meet her level of play and help this team improve."

The next leading scorer for Franciscan was freshman guard Raegan Stead who finished with 10 points in 24 minutes.

Fellow freshman guard Gaby DeJesus also turned in a solid performance with seven points in her second collegiate start.

"Some of our younger players are getting some good learning experience minutes," Delaney said. "Gaby and Raegan are doing what they can to advance their games and help the team."

Turnovers continue to be a huge problem as the Lady Barons gave away the ball 27 times; however, the turnovers didn't hurt them as much in this game as the Bison had 23 turnovers of their own.

The Lady Barons will search for the season's first win when they host Geneva College in the home opener on Saturday, November 21, at 1 p.m.