WARDSVILLE - A little more than a minute had ticked off the clock Monday night before the Blair Oaks Falcons called a timeout.
Aushara Hostetler's second 3-pointer of the game had barely found its way through the net for the Linn Lady Wildcats before Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore called timeout with 6:42 remaining in the first quarter.
It was time to chat.
"We had to refocus," Moore said. "You shouldn't have to refocus that early in the game, but we weren't locked in defensively."
The chat worked. The Lady Falcons forced turnovers on the next four Lady Wildcat possessions on their way to a 51-43 victory.
"I'm really proud of the effort," Linn coach Brandi Moore said. "We haven't had a lot of luck in the past against Blair Oaks, we're changing our program a little bit. This group came out and gave it a really good effort."
The turnovers sparked a 9-0 run for Blair Oaks, who led 12-11 after one quarter.
"We have to get better at making decisions under pressure," Brandi Moore said.
The Lady Wildcats went cold from the field in the second quarter, hitting just 1-of-12 shots as the Lady Falcons extended their advantage to 23-13 at the half.
"Linn is a team that can shoot it really well, you have to get out there on them," Brandon Moore said.
Grace Boessen came off the bench to lead the Lady Falcons with six points at the half.
"She had a great night," Brandon Moore said. "She was aggressive, she was confident."
The Lady Wildcats were pleased with the shots they got in the quarter.
"We took good shots, they didn't go in," Brandi Moore said. "They took good shots, theirs went in."
Blair Oaks led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, that coming at 38-21 after a 3-pointer by Bailey Rissmiller. Linn scored the final four points of the quarter and trailed 38-23 heading to the fourth.
The Lady Falcons led by as many as 19 points early in the fourth quarter and looked poised to put the game away.
But the Lady Wildcats used an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 48-43 with a little less than a minute to play.
"We continued to play hard and it showed late in the game," Brandi Moore said.
Hostetler and Claire Baker finished with 14 points each for Linn. Baker also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
"(Baker) started working inside and had a good night," Brandi Moore said.
Linn (9-7), coming off a 59-48 loss last Monday to Class 1 No. 1 Walnut Grove, will host Class 3 No. 10 South Callaway on Friday.
"You want to play good teams because they help you improve," Brandi Moore said. "We're in a tougher part of our schedule right now, but we're rising to the occasion against these good teams."
Alyssa Hargus led Blair Oaks with 13 points, including nine in the second half. Rissmiller added 12, while Autumn Bax came off the bench to lead the team with seven rebounds.
Blair Oaks (8-10) will play Ozark on Saturday in the Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse. Game time is 12:30 p.m.
There was no JV game Monday.