BIGFORK - The Mission Lady Bulldogs put forth an inspired effort

on defense in two games last week, but it wasn't enough to overcome

a pair of road contests.

The Lady Bulldogs opened their road trip by falling at Bigfork

33-17. Despite the loss, Mission head coach Les Rice was very happy

with his team's defensive effort, which saw Bigfork score 17 fewer

points than in their first games against the Lady Bulldogs this

season.

BIGFORK - The Mission Lady Bulldogs put forth an inspired effort on defense in two games last week, but it wasn't enough to overcome a pair of road contests.

The Lady Bulldogs opened their road trip by falling at Bigfork 33-17. Despite the loss, Mission head coach Les Rice was very happy with his team's defensive effort, which saw Bigfork score 17 fewer points than in their first games against the Lady Bulldogs this season.

"I was pleased with our defense against Bigfork," Rice said. "Offensively, we struggled putting the ball in the hole, but we did well limiting their two leading scorers to 13 points collectively."

Stephanie Lewandowski led Mission offensively with seven points, while Loren Erickson and Cecelia Koskela added four apiece and Bryanna Steele two for the visitors.

The Lady Bulldogs hung around in the first half, trailing just 18-11 but Bigfork nearly doubled the lead with a 10-4 run in the third quarter en route to the win.

Later in the week, the Lady Bulldogs went to Florence against the fast-paced Lady Falcons and got 10 points from both Erickson and Steele, but were knocked off 59-32.

"With Florence, our goal was to keep them from hitting the three and keep them off the line," Rice said. "We defended the three well, but they were able to rebound and get us into foul trouble."

Florence actually went 2-33 from downtown, but those offensive rebounds and trips to the foul line enabled them to blow the game open against Mission, especially in the third quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs headed into halftime within striking distance at 33-17, but a 15-2 run in the third put the game out of reach.

"Versus Florence, we needed to make the easy shots," Rice said. "At times, we handled the press, but then they broke it open in the third."

Lewandowski contributed with seven points and both Katrina Stevens and Haley O'Hern added two. Sahriah Camacho finished the scoring with one point.

This week, the Lady Bulldogs will host Mission Valley rival Arlee on Thursday, Feb. 2 before travelling to Loyola for a matchup with the breakers. Mission lost a close game against the Scarlets earlier in the season 39-35, while Loyola pulled out a 54-30 victory at Mission in early January.

MISSION @ BIGFORK

Mission - 3 - 8 - 4 - 2 - 17

Bigfork - 9 - 9 - 10 - 5 - 33

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Stephanie Lewandowski 7, Loren Erickson 4, Cecelia Koskela 4, Bryanna Steele 2

MISSION @ FLOR.

Mission - 9 - 8 - 2 - 13 - 32

Florence - 17 - 16 - 15 - 11 - 59

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Loren Erickson 10, Bryanna Steele 10, Stephanie Lewandowski 7, Katrina Stevens 2, Haley O'Hern 2, Sahriah Camacho 1