STEUBENVILLE - A 23-point fourth quarter was not enough for the Franciscan women's basketball team to overcome Hilbert College in a 63-52 loss.

The Lady Barons offense struggled in the first quarter once again, scoring only two points in the first seven minutes and seven points overall. Coming off the bench, sophomore guard Sarah Schriner had five of her team-high 18 points in that first. However, Franciscan found itself only down by seven points to start the second quarter as the team's defense held the Hawks to 14 points.

"We had a very cold shooting night," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "Despite that, I was very proud of our effort. It was also good to see Sarah Schriner come in and give us a lift. We've missed her."

A three-pointer by Schriner for the first points of the second cut the Hawk lead to three. Franciscan kept the game close until Hilbert pushed its lead into double-digits with 5:28 left in the quarter. The Hawks carried a 33-19 lead into the lockerroom.

Coming out of halftime, each team missed its first three shots until Hilbert forward Shannon Rogers made a layup with 7:35 remaining. Led by Rogers double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds for the game, the Hawks built up a 20-point lead and outscored the Lady Barons 19-10 in the quarter.

Hilbert lost its 20-point lead with five minutes left in the game when freshman guard Gaby DeJesus hit a jump shot. The Lady Barons slowly chipped into the lead and got the deficit down to 10 points with another Schriner three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the game.

Senior guard Iliana Gonzales was the Lady Barons second-leading scorer with 14 points, the first game all season she has not finished as the leading scorer. Classmate Stephanie Pahren contributed 10 points for the Lady Barons. Pahren also tied for the team's leading rebounder with Monica Dawyot as each senior grabbed six boards.  

"I'm particularly proud of Steph Pahren and Monica Dawyot and the effort they gave on the defensive end," Delaney said.

The Lady Barons will play one more game before taking a short break for Christmas when Franciscan hosts non-conference opponent Hiram College on December 14 at 6 p.m.

"We need to continue to work on putting together a 40 minute game that focuses on all facets," Delaney said.