The Lady Panthers played North Star on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at Cando and lost 49-43.

“Last night we had a slip,” said Coach Jen Brossart. She added that the Rugby girls are a good team when they all come to play on the same night.

The Bearcats led in the first quarter 14-7 but by halftime the Panthers had caught up and the two teams were tied at 24-24. By the end of the third quarter, the two teams were tied 31-31. It was in the fourth quarter that the Bearcats pulled ahead and beat the Panthers by six points.

Crystal Hovland made almost half the points for Rugby and finished with 21 points. She was 4 for 4 at the free throw line and made one of two 3-pointers attempted.

Molly Koenig fought for rebounds and made 13 total. She added four points to the Panther scoreboard. Leigha Schmaltz and Aubrey Hovland each contributed six points. Allison Volk added 4 and Abby Paul added 2.

The Bearcats’ Kelsey Teubner led her team with 15 points and Megan Gowan contributed 11. Allie Heisler brought in eight points and Laura Oakland added 6.

North Star received 16 points off the bench to Rugby’s 4. The Panthers grabbed 53% of total rebounds while the Bearcats had a 48% total rebound rate.

“The girls didn’t play as good as I would have liked,” said Coach Brossart. “We will watch the video of the game at practice.”

Rugby’s Lady Panthers are scheduled to play Rolla on Friday night, Feb. 18 at home for their last game of the regular season. The girls basketball team will be hosting “Pink Out” with a cancer survivor recognition. The funds raised at Pink Out will go to fight cancer. Everyone is invited to join in by wearing pink instead of the usual orange and black team colors.

The Panthers will open with Drake-Anamoose for district competition beginning on Friday, Feb. 25. The District Tournament will be held at Velva on Friday, Feb. 25, Saturday, Feb. 26, and Monday, Feb. 28.