ST. IGNATIUS - The Mission Lady Bulldogs have faced some brutal

competition over the first couple of weekends of their basketball

season and while they continue to search for their first win,

they're playing tough and coming along well.

ST. IGNATIUS - The Mission Lady Bulldogs have faced some brutal competition over the first couple of weekends of their basketball season and while they continue to search for their first win, they're playing tough and coming along well.

On Thursday, Dec. 15, the Lady Bulldogs bolted to an early 14-6 first-quarter lead, but couldn't hang on as Deer Lodge rallied for a 51-37 win.

"We shot well," Mission head coach Les Rice said of his team's hot start. "We came down and made our first four or five shots. I don't know if we missed in the first quarter."

Mission went into halftime up 21-19, but Deer Lodge came out of halftime and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 16-6 in the third period and never looked back.

Stephanie Lewandowski led Mission with 12 points, while Loren Erickson scored nine in the loss. Sophie Woodcock added five, while Katrina Stevens, with four, Twyala Hogge, three and both Cecelia Koskela and Sahriah Camacho, with two apiece, scored for the Lady Bulldogs.

Two nights later, the Lady Bulldogs hosted a tough Charlo Lady Vikings squad. Charlo bolted to a quick lead and maintained it, defeating the host Mission 51-24.

"We played OK defensively early, but put them on the foul line," Rice said. "Charlo was 8-11 in first quarter and 19-29 in the game."

Those eight free throws helped the Lady Vikings build a 15-3 lead after the first. Mission rebounded with 11 second-quarter points, but Charlo came back in the third, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 12-3 in the stanza to secure the win.

The 24 points scored by Mission was actually the most Charlo has allowed through four games so far this season.

Erickson and Katrina Stevens accounted for two-thirds of those, with eight each, Byianna Steele added six in her return from illness and Lewandowski two as the Lady Bulldogs fell to 0-4.

"Loren was the most steady as far as shooting," Rice said of the weekend. "Bryanna didn't play against Deer Lodge, but played Saturday which was nice. It was nice to see her back in the lineup. Stephanie had her best night shooting against Deer Lodge. We were kind of up and down this weekend."

The Lady Bulldogs hoped to bounce back before Christmas with a Tuesday game against Florence, but results were unavailable at press time. Going into the break, Rice hopes his team can fix a couple things and put their best foot forward.

"Going into Christmas break, we'll be looking to eliminate turnovers and have better offensive execution," Rice said. "Turnovers are putting us in a bad position defensively."

CHARLO @ MISSION

Charlo - 15 - 16 - 12 - 8 - 51

St. Regis - 3 - 11 - 3 - 7 - 24

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Loren Erickson 8, Stephanie Lewandowski 2, Bryanna Steele 6, Katrina Stevens 8

MISSION @ DLODGE

Mission - 14 - 7 - 6 - 10 - 37

DL - 6 - 13 - 16 - 16 - 51

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Loren Erickson 9, Sophie Woodcock 5, Stephanie Lewandowski 12, Cecilia Koskela 2, Katrina Stevens 4, Twyla Hogge 3