PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Franciscan women's basketball team opened Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference action with a tough loss to La Roche Wednesday night, 67-32.

Trailing 5-0 early in the first half, sophomore Raegan Stead made a jumper to cut the lead down to 5-2, but that would be as close as the Lady Barons would get to the Red Hawks. La Roche pushed its lead back up to six with a jumper with 3:49 to play in the opening quarter. Senior Bernadette Roach answered with a layup to cut the lead in half, 8-4, but the Red Hawks closed out the quarter with 11-straight points to lead 19-4.

The Lady Barons and Red Hawks played even in the second quarter, each team scoring nine points. Stead hit a three for FUS, while Bernadette Roach hit a jumper and both free throws while freshman closed out the quarter with a layup to cut the Red Hawk lead to 28-13 at the break.

La Roche continued to control the game and pushed its lead to 51-21 after the third and closed out the game with a 16-11 advantage in the fourth to seal the 67-32 victory.

Stead led the Lady Barons with 12 points while Bernadette Roach pulled down eight rebounds and posted a pair of blocks. Freshman Abby Baierl finished the day with seven rebounds for FUS.

The Lady Barons return home on Saturday as they host Penn State Behrend at 2pm.