ROCHELLE — A slow start didn’t stop the Rochelle Lady Hubs from finding their rhythm on offense during the third quarter of their varsity basketball game against Stillman Valley.

Rochelle drained three 3-pointers and turned defense into offense in the third quarter, which was a lone bright spot for the Lady Hubs, who fell behind early and suffered a 69-39 loss to the Cardinals. Taylor Davidson led all scorers in the game, finishing with 22 points for Stillman Valley. Senior Abby Metzger finished with 12 points for the Lady Hubs (4-4, 0-1 Interstate 8), who will return to their home floor for a conference matchup against Morris on Saturday.

“Our recipe for success is getting deflections so we can get out and run,” head coach Jon Gehm said. “Our best offense is when we can push the ball in transition so we can get some easier looks. When we’re flying around defensively, it translates to every part of our game… We came out and hit some shots in the third quarter and we started to feel more of our rhythm.”

The Cardinals shut Rochelle down in the opening half, where Stillman Valley’s interior defense made it difficult for the Lady Hubs to send the ball inside. On the other end of the floor, Stillman Valley moved the ball quickly around the perimeter, executing screen-and-roll offense to get easy shots underneath the Rochelle basket. The Cardinals led 17-6 after the first quarter.

“We talked before the game that their initial defense is very good,” Gehm said. “We needed to get a couple of ball reversals so we could slow them down and take advantage, but we didn’t do that a whole lot tonight. We had opportunities to score down low, but they made good defensive plays and they got their hands on the ball. We have to work on keeping the ball up high.”

Junior Jaydin Dickey knocked down the first of her two 3-pointers on Monday during the second quarter, where the Cardinals ballooned their lead to 29-15 at halftime. Dickey, who finished with nine points for the Lady Hubs in the game, has seen an increased role on offense after moving up to the varsity level early last season. Dickey has been an anchor on defense as well, leading Rochelle’s 1-2-2 press and using her length at the guard position to create deflections.

“Jaydin was aggressive and she was looking to score,” Gehm said. “When she’s aggressive, it translates to all parts of her game and she’s able to step into her shots and hit some open 3s.”

While Rochelle gained some steam on offense during the third quarter, the Lady Hubs were unable to slow down Davidson. The Ashland University recruit put home a pair of 3-pointers and scored 12 of her 22 points in the third quarter to help the Cardinals take a 52-30 lead into the fourth quarter, where Dailene Wade hit two triples and scored eight of her 12 points off the bench for the Cardinals. Senior Kendyl Darby finished with seven points for Rochelle.