The Lady Jags dropped their fourth conference game of the season and their second game to the first place Edison Eagles tonight on the Falls Church home court.  Although managing to win two of the four quarters tonight, Falls Church had two tremendous lapses in the other quarters to allow Edison to win by over 30 points.

After falling behind by seven points in the opening minutes of the first quarter, the Lady Jaguars roared back with eight unanswered points to take a 10-9 lead to end the quarter, highlighted by two right-side drives by Rasha Benhamida. The Jaguars remained competitive well into the second quarter with Leah Shaw's 20th three-pointer of the season and two more baskets by Benhamida, including an athletic turn-around jumper. to keep within two points.  Edison gradually opened up an eight-point lead and with 30 seconds left in the half Falls Church collapsed with a series of four rapid-fire turnovers in the back court--all converted to Eagle points which enabled Edison to take a 34-17 lead into intermission.

The Lady Jags recovered to outscore Edison in the third quarter, thanks to three straight press breaks resulting in three banked shots by Sierra Kennard from the left and another "3" by Leah Shaw. Benhamida's early 4th quarter "3" and Shaw's right-side drive and layup kept the Lady Jags within striking distance to Edison, 33-47. But a second turnover fest by Falls Church -- this one lasting over 5 minutes rather than just 30 seconds -- gifted the Eagles with successful conversions for the rest of the game as they went on an immediate 19-1 run, interrupted only by Kennard's 27th three-pointer of the season (second in the conference). The closing buzzer mercifully ended a game that was quickly getting out of hand.

Coach Pritchett's team currently sits in fourth place in Conference 13. Next weeks' games are the pivotal contests of the season. Win both games and Falls Church will likely repeat their third place standing they enjoyed last year; lose both games and they risk dropping toward the lower end of the conference in fifth place.

Scoring Summary:  Sierra Kennard, 13 points; Rasha Benhamida, 11 points; Leah Shaw 9 points; Mia Pendleton, 4 points.