Playing their fifth straight girls basketball game away from home to start the season, Pacific suffered a 57-52 loss Thursday at Rolla.
The Lady Indians (3-2) twice held a 10-point lead during the third quarter, but couldn’t hold on.
“We weren’t ourselves. We know we can play better and smarter than we did against Rolla,” said Pacific Head Coach Josh Spuhl. “We didn’t do all the little things necessary to win. The girls know that every game we play is to prepare for the end of the year. We have to learn.”
Trailing 15-14 after one quarter, Pacific came back to grab leads of 33-31 at halftime and 44-42 after three quarters.
The Lady Indians were outscored 15-8 over the final eight minutes.
“Rolla came out ready to play. They took an early six- or seven-point lead. We were able to fight back and go ahead by eight points in the second quarter,” Spuhl said. “Again in the third quarter, we pulled ahead by 10 points. They made a run right before the end of the third quarter. They hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to make it a two-point game.”
Meagan Wakefield, a sophomore guard, led the Lady Indians in the scoring column with 11 points.
“Meagan had a great game,” Spuhl said. “She was able to give us a spark that we needed desperately.”
Kya Hill finished the game with 10 points. Ashley Hill added eight points.
Ellen Rogers and Hunter Kelemen both scored seven points. Rogers was 7-11 from the free-throw line.
Lizzy Almo collected six points. She was 4-4 from the foul line. Abby Spuhl had three points. Kate Cookson also played.
Pacific begins Four Rivers Conference action Monday at Union at 6 p.m.
The Lady Indians play their first home game of the season Thursday against New Haven at 6 p.m.
“We will learn from this loss and get ready for Union,” Spuhl said.
