The Rolla Lady Bulldogs weren't perfect in the first half Monday night.
But they were pretty darned close.
"They came after us and did everything right," Helias coach Alan Lepper said after the Lady Crusaders dropped a 58-42 decision to the Lady Bulldogs n a clash of Class 4 ranked teams Monday night at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Rolla never trailed in the game, scoring the first seven points. The Lady Crusaders scored the next four, but the Lady Bulldogs then closed the first quarter on a 10-4 run to take a 17-8 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, that coming on a layup by Savannah Campbell that made it 31-14. Lindsey Byers of Helias hit a buzzer-beater to cut the deficit to 15 at intermission.
Rolla finished 15-of-21 from the field in the opening two quarters, with almost all of their points coming on layups or shots in the paint.
"We've been working on our transition defense because teams have been hurting us that way," Lepper said. "We're going to go back to the drawing board and work on it some more.
"They were playing harder than we were, that's the bottom line."
Helias was 7-of-27 from the field in the first half and shot just two free throws.
"We weren't taking it to them on offense, you could tell by the amount of free throws we shot," Lepper said. "We're going in gingerly, we're not taking it strong to the basket. If we get called for a charge, well, you get four other fouls."
The teams traded points for much of the third quarter, which closed with Rolla holding a 47-26 advantage.
"We wanted to try to cut it down, but every time, they seemed to have an answer for it," Lepper said.
Helias did play better in that third quarter, with reserves such as Kylie Bernskoetter and Emily Harrison providing a spark.
The Lady Crusaders' shooting didn't get better in the third quarter, finishing 2-of-10. But they did get to the free-throw line, going 6-of-8.
Helias did cut into Rolla's advantage in the fourth quarter, using a 12-0 run in a three-plus minute span to cut its deficit to 54-41.
"It was good for us to battle and try to back in it, we were just too far behind," Lepper said.
Ellie Rodgers finished with a game-high 17 points for Rolla. Campbell added 11 off the bench for the Lady Bulldogs (16-2, ranked No. 10 in Class 4), who have won 15 straight games since falling 63-23 to Jefferson City in late November at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Rolla has just two seniors on its roster to go along with four freshman who either start or are one of its first players off the bench.
"They've got a good inside-out game and they can press you all over the floor," Lepper said.
Byers finished with 14 points for Helias. Bernskoetter added eight, while Taylor Koelling totaled seven points and five rebounds.
"Taylor is a kid that battles all over the floor," Lepper said. "She's out there doing the hard stuff that may not get noticed by a lot of people that not a lot of players want to do, but it is noticed by coaches."
It was just Helias' fourth game since the calendar flipped to 2019, but Lepper wasn't going to use that as an excuse.
"To be an elite team, we have to be ready to go at any time," he said. "We have to be prepared to play each game.
"I don't think it takes much for teams to get up to play Helias, no matter what our record is."
The schedule does pick up this week for the Lady Crusaders (10-5, No. 5 in Class 4). Helias will play Wednesday at Lutheran North before facing Cardinal Ritter at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse. Helias lost to Cardinal Ritter 54-46 on Dec. 22 in St. Louis.
In Monday night's JV game, Helias defeated Rolla 55-28. Madisyn Hood and Lani Andrews had 10 points each for the Lady Crusaders.