ROCHELLE — Despite holding Ottawa standout Angelique Cowan to only two points during the first half of its conference game Tuesday evening, the Rochelle varsity girls basketball team struggled to find the basket against a tough Pirate defense.

Ottawa held the Lady Hubs to two points during the entire second quarter, entering the locker room leading 21-10 at halftime before opening the floodgates in the third quarter. The Pirates outscored Rochelle 20-5 during the third quarter, and Ottawa ultimately cruised over the Lady Hubs 43-23 to drop Rochelle to 4-9 overall. Cowan finished with 14 points for the Pirates.

“We ran our diamond-and-one defense on Angelique and we were face-guarding her throughout the game,” head coach Tony Rowan said. “Our main focus was on Angelique during the first half… Our kids did a great job trying to lock her up, but we need to focus more on playing more movement-and-flow, high basketball IQ defense.”

Senior Abby Lundquist scored six points for Rochelle in the first quarter, with freshman Sylvia Hasz adding two points on a put-back layup underneath the Ottawa basket. The Lady Hubs were unable to create much shooting space in the second quarter, however, as the Pirates (who led 14-8 after the first quarter) maneuvered around Rochelle screens and sent multiple defenders toward Lundquist, who recorded her team’s only two points in the quarter.

“Whenever we see the box-and-one defense, we need other girls to step up and relieve the pressure on Abby,” Rowan said. “She’s a fighter, and I know she wasn’t happy to be sitting on the bench during the fourth quarter, but we need to rest her and reload for our next two games coming up.”

Turnovers by the Lady Hubs allowed Ottawa’s transition offense to score layups on the other end and extend the Pirate lead in the third quarter. Aside from Hasz’s 2-point runner off the backboard and freshman Josie Lundquist’s 3-pointer from the right elbow, the third quarter was all Pirates.

Trailing 41-15 after three quarters, freshman Zoey Tabor found her rhythm for Rochelle, scoring six quick points including a layup, a jumper and two free throws. Junior Gabrielle Harding added a put-back shot as well, and the Lady Hubs outscored Ottawa 8-2 in the final quarter of play.

“I’m hoping the girls can keep raising their confidence throughout each game,” Rowan said. “We weren’t relying on Abby to score, and other girls were starting to open up their games a little bit. I’m hoping we can transfer that over to when Abby’s on the floor, and if we can do that, our offense will be able to explode.”