Scoring Drought Costs Braves against Wildcats

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Take away the second quarter of Monday night's game between the Taconic and Lee girls' basketball teams, and the Braves would have been trailing one of the top teams in Berkshire County by just one point. The second quarter was where the game was won, however, as the Wildcats outscored Taconic 12-2 on their way to a 44-33 win on the road. 

Matt Mickle's squad has struggled with having at least one disastrous quarter in the first half of every game in its recent six-game losing streak. The Braves (1-8) have scored five points or less in a quarter in each of their past six losses and have had three quarters in which they only managed two points. That happened against Lee (7-2) on Monday, when Taconic sank just two foul shots in the second quarter after leading 10-7 at the end of the first quarter of play. 

The Wildcats, led by a game-high 17 points from senior Stephanie Young, earned a seven-point lead at halftime and increased their margin to 12 points by the end of the third quarter. Point guard Eileen Dooley also added eight points for Lee.

Junior center Nyanna Slaughter had a solid game in the post for the Braves, registering a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Classmate Angela O'Neil also had 12 points, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers in the game. 

Taconic next hosts Hoosac Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.