WARDSVILLE - It wasn't the first half either the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons or the Fatima Lady Comets had envisioned would take place.
A lot of 3-pointers, and not much else.
Fatima was the first team to make an adjustment in the second half, and it paid off. A 9-0 run to start the third quarter gave the Lady Comets the lead for good and a 49-40 win Tuesday against the Lady Falcons.
"We weren't throwing the ball in the post and we weren't attacking," Fatima coach Matt Baker said. "That was our halftime adjustment, was getting that ball in the high post and getting it to the rim."
Morgan Luebbering, Fatima's 6-foot-1 post player, accounted for six points during that stretch, as the Lady Comets worked the ball inside instead of settling for the outside shot.
"Once we did that, Morgan scored 12 (points) in the second half and that sucked that zone (defense) back in," Baker said. "We finally started getting some better looks."
Both teams played a zone defense, which led to a total of 30 attempts from 3-point range between the two teams in the game's first 16 minutes.
Blair Oaks shot just six 2-point shots during the first half. Four of Fatima's five starters are 5-10 or taller, which clogged up plenty of room inside the 3-point line.
"Their length is pretty impressive," Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said. "They've gotten longer since last year, which definitely helps them on the defensive end."
The only points scored in the game's first 11 minutes were from 3-point range. Mallorie Fick hit a 3 from the left wing in the closing seconds of the first quarter to put Blair Oaks ahead 9-6.
Fick also broke the streak of 3s by making 1-of-2 free throws with 4:20 left in the second quarter. Kadence Kliegel scored the game's first 2-point basket, tossing up a shot in the lane to extend the Lady Falcons' lead to 15-9.
Lauren Brandt knocked down four 3-pointers in the second quarter, giving Fatima a 20-18 lead.
"The 3s we were getting were bombs," Baker said. "Lauren was shooting from the volleyball line."
Fick answered with another 3 a few seconds before the buzzer to give Blair Oaks a 21-20 lead at intermission.
By halftime, each team had made six 3-pointers and one 2-pointer. The difference was Fick's free throw.
Needless to say, it was not how either coach envisioned the first half would go.
"I thought we would shoot it well based on their zone and what we run, but no, I would have liked to have seen more dribble penetration," Moore said. "I thought there would have been more fouls. Both teams are pretty physical."
"They like to press and we like to press, so you would have thought it would have been up and down," Baker said.
Fatima outscored Blair Oaks 16-8 in the third quarter, and this time it was the Lady Comets' turn to score just before the buzzer. Ellie Brune hit a running jumper with :01 left to extend Fatima's lead to 36-29.
"The crowd started to build and that gave us a little bit of energy, which was nice," Baker said.
Fatima committed 10 turnovers in the first half. The Lady Comets didn't commit any in the third quarter.
"We finally settled down and ran the offense to the rim," Baker said.
Fatima held the ball for nearly a minute on its first possession of the fourth quarter. After a timeout, Brandt scored inside and drew a foul, making the free throw to give Fatima its largest lead of the game at 39-29.
"When they took the lead, we said, 'All right, what are we going to do to put pressure on them?'" Moore said. "In the fourth quarter especially, they decided to spread it out, which was smart on their part, and it made us come out and guard them."
Blair Oaks cut the Fatima lead to six points on three different occasions in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer.
Fatima shot 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Luebbering, who scored all 12 of her points in the second half, was 6-of-6 at the line, while Brandt was 5-of-5 in the fourth quarter.
"It cost us in the Helias game," Baker said of Fatima's free-throw shooting in Monday's 52-48 overtime loss to the Lady Crusaders. "To see them come out and make them in the fourth quarter, that was big."
Fatima shot 8-of-23 from 3-point range. The Lady Comets often moved the ball inside before passing back to the perimeter for an open look.
"There were a couple shots that Brandt got where we just collapsed and had all five players in the lane," Moore said.
Brandt shot 6-of-9 from 3 and finished with a game-high 25 points. Brandt also scored her 1,000th career point in the win.
"Lauren is so underappreciated," Baker said. "She could shoot way more than she does."
Fick scored 18 points for Blair Oaks, shooting 5-of-9 from 3. Bailey Rissmiller added nine points.
Fatima (8-1) will play Crocker next Monday in the first round of the Rolla Holiday Tournament. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
Blair Oaks (5-4) opens the Jefferson Bank Holiday Hoops Invitational next Monday against Helias. Tip-off is at noon at Fleming Fieldhouse.