STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan women's basketball team out-scored Bethany (WV) 32-29 in the second half, but the comeback was not enough as the Lady Barons fell to the visiting Bison 59-44 in the first game of the season for both teams, Monday night.
Trailing 30-12 to start the third quarter, freshman Angela Starre kicked off the scoring with a straight-away three at just on the right-side of the three-point line thanks to an assist from senior Gaby De Jesus. The Bison answered with a three of their own to push their lead back to 18, 33-15. With just over five minutes to play in the quarter, Bethany took its largest lead of the game, 39-19, thanks to a three from Allison Kuhn. Starre drew a foul on the Lady Barons next possession and hit both free throws to kick off an 11-7 run over the final five minutes to trim the deficit to 16, 46-30, with 10 minutes to play. The run was punctuated by a three from senior Raegan Stead with just 11 seconds left in the quarter.
Bethany pushed its lead back to 18 with a jumper in the Bison's first possession of the fourth but Stead answered with a three thanks to a pass back to the far corner from freshman Tessa Crider. Janaya Hazlip made back-to-back buckets but Crider and junior Kaitlyn Sonneberger completed back-to-back trips to the free throw line to cut the lead down to 15, 52-38, with 5:54 to play. Stead added a free throw to get the Lady Barons to within 14, 52-38 but the Bison used a 6-0 over the next four minutes to push the Bison lead to 58-38. All six points during the run came from Kelsie Meintel. Crider and Meintel traded free throws before Stead battled through traffic for a layup and De Jesus hit a deep three with five seconds to play to cut the deficit down to 15, 59-44. The Bison would let time expire and the score held 59-44 in favor of Bethany.
The Bison took control of the contest early as Bethany out-scored the Lady Barons 13-7 in the first quarter before using a 17-5 second to take the 30-12 lead at halftime.
Starre led the Lady Barons with 15 points in her Franciscan debut while Stead posted 13 points and led the team with six rebounds. Starre and Crider each dished out three assists.
"Obviously it's not the result we wanted tonight but we saw some positives from everyone and we are all hungry to get back to work tomorrow," remarked head coach Suzy Delaney after the contest. "We didn't shoot well in the second quarter but I thought we played a much better second half.
"Angela Starre stepped up nicely tonight and played a tough all-around game. I'm proud of Kaitlyn Sonneberger taking three of our team's four charges. And Raegan Stead led us on the boards with six as well as knocking down 13."
The Lady Barons will get right back on the hardwood as they host Chatham on Wednesday for their second of five-straight home games to open the season. The opening tip is set for 7:00 pm.
