With their seventh victory of the season, Falls Church downed Stuart for the twelfth consecutive time and locked into sixth place in Conference 13 with one more game to play in the regular season. This was a very close contest with the Lady Jaguars aided most by their three three-year varsity veterans -- one who enjoyed a "double-double," another who completed her season-high game, and an unsung hero who enjoyed her career game tonight after coming off the bench.

The Lady Raiders defended their home territory with a vengeance, having dropped their past two games to the Lady Jaguars by 30+ points in each and not tasting victory against their conference rival since 2009. The first half proved this was an entirely different contest as the Lady Jaguars clawed their way to a quick 7-0 lead with points produced by four of the five starters, including senior Brittney Barbaro, who landed her second basket in consecutive quarters--but this time the lead would not hold. Stuart bounced back to tie the score 13-13 in the second quarter. Amber Ecelbarger opened up another lead with her 21st three-pointer of the season, but Stuart tied the score with a "3" of their own. Senior Amy Rock, who entered the game in the second quarter and landed a basket early in the frame, followed up with a "3" of her own and another two-point field goal to give the Lady Jags 21-16 halftime lead.  

The third quarter opened with Ecelbarger driving in a left-handed shot, followed by Rock's second "3" of the game. Forwards Leann Loch and Natalie Samaha -- who each had first-half baskets -- added baskets and free throws in the third quarter as well, but the Lady Raiders charged forth with a five more baskets to draw within two points at the close of the quarter, 29-27. 

The fourth quarter saw Stuart fight to keep the game close, battling to a one point deficit midway into the quarter. Freshman Leah Shaw extended her varsity scoring streak to 19 games with a mid-range bucket and Amy Rock added another basket while Samaha and Ecelbarger contributed four more points. Leann Loch widened the Jaguar lead with a pick and roll basket, followed by another similar shot and a free throw to boot. But the lead dropped to 3 points in the closing minutes as Stuart was forced to intentionally foul. Loch made three out of four free throws to give the Jags a four-point lead with 20 seconds to go. But as Stuart attempted to roll in  the inbound play to delay the start of the clock, Ecelbarger surprised them by rushing forward, stealing the pass and burning off several seconds before taking a foul. She hit one of the free throws to secure Loch's game winning points and give Coach Pritchett her 13th court victory in two years at the helm.

Loch was the leading scorer on the floor with her season-high game (pulling in eight boards and blocking three shots in the process) and Ecelbarger earned her second career double-double in points and assists, but Amy Rock's performance perhaps was the most unexpected and therefore decisive for this victory. Coming off the bench, she not only enjoyed her career high game tonight, she scored more points in three sizzling quarters of play tonight than she had all season going into this contest.

Scoring Summary: Leann Loch, 15 points; Amy Rock, 12 points; Amber Ecelbarger, 10 points; Natalie Samaha, 5 points; Brittney Barbaro & Leah Shaw, 2 points each.