Fatima had several opportunities on Friday to win against St. James but came up short 40-32.

“They just weren’t mentally checked in,” said Coach Matt Baker. “Kids passed up open shots, and we had nine turnovers from our starters in the first half that were just not okay. I mean, just across the board, ball security was a problem. Outside of Alli (Robertson), we got no production from any of the starting four, essentially.”

Fatima hit some shots early and took the lead, but that changed in the second quarter when the Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Comets 16-4. That set up a 27-16 halftime deficit.

Overall, Fatima shot 30.2% from the floor. “We missed some easy layups,” said Baker. “Our stats in the first half said we only had nine shots. We had no sense of urgency, no getting the ball up the floor, no tempo. It just was a blah first half, and then we were behind.”

Collectively, the Lady Comets won the second half, 13-12, but the first-half hole was too deep.

“You give a solid team the momentum and some confidence, and then you’ve got to curb that, which I think we just didn’t do enough down the stretch across the board to make up for it,” said Baker.

Fatima got scoring from four players. A. Robertson went 3-7 from the outside and 3-3 at the line on her way to a team-high 20 points. She also grabbed 12 rebounds, had two assists, a steal, and a block. Kristen Robertson, Alex Berhorst, and Lucy Crede scored four points apiece.

Kaitlyn Plassmeyer added six rebounds, followed by K. Robertson,  Crede (4), Berhorst (2), and Natalie Wilbers (1).

Defensively, Crede posted two steals, and KP had another.

“I thought we were solid after the first half,” said Baker of his defense. “We locked down, played better defense, and rebounded the ball a lot better.”

After Wednesday’s 71-36 win over Blair Oaks, Fatima was primed for a sweep, especially at the Lady Comets’ home tourney. “We’ve got to get better,” said Baker. “We’ve had issues winning at home. Last year, I think we lost one game on the road. I don’t know what it is; being home, is kind of Jekyll and Hyde for us. They can be lightning. We didn’t have many students tonight. The boys were out playing. The student section was very low. But the girls have got to be able to play and bring their own energy.”

In the Blair Oaks game, Berhorst and Bax led with 16 points apiece as the pair combined for three treys. KP added three from long range and scored 13, as A. Robertson drained a pair of treys en route to 10 points. Also scoring were Crede (7), Wilbers (3), and K. Robertson, Payton Wieberg, and Adalyn Berhorst (2 each).

A. Robertson posted a team-leading seven rebounds, followed by Wieberg and Alex Berhorst (4 each), Madelyn Backes (3), and Adalyn Berhorst, Crede, K. Robertson, and Wilbers (1 apiece).

Defensively, Crede posted five steals, followed by Wilbers and A. Robertson (3 each), Vivian Bax (2), and K. Robertson, Alex Berhorst, and Wieberg (1 each).