ROCHELLE — Senior Alivia Henkel wasn’t about to let the Rochelle Lady Hub varsity basketball team squander an opportunity for its first Interstate 8 Conference win of the season Wednesday evening, when the purple and white faced off against the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers.

Rochelle’s aggressive man-to-man defense flustered LaSalle-Peru in the first half, where the Lady Hubs limited the Cavaliers to only 11 points and held them scoreless over the first four-plus minutes of the game. Despite a slow start, LaSalle-Peru mounted a furious comeback during the second half, forcing multiple turnovers and applying full-court pressure to bring Rochelle within as few as four points as the final minutes of the fourth quarter wound down.

With their first conference win of the season in the balance, the Lady Hubs looked to their senior leader Henkel, who scored 15 of her game-high 26 points in the second half as Rochelle held off the Cavaliers for a 46-39 victory. Henkel accounted for all but four of the second-half points for the Lady Hubs (8-11, 1-3 Interstate 8), who snapped a three-game conference losing streak.

“I’m really glad that we came out strong in the first half because that’s been a struggle for us,” Henkel said. “I’m proud of us for getting a conference win and I hope this continues... We switched to man-to-man defense tonight and I thought that was really important for us because everyone was working hard and being aggressive. [LaSalle-Peru] didn’t give up, but we fought back and even though they made a run, we were able to push back and it feels really good.”

Rochelle had full control of the opening half, where junior Kendyl Darby scored all 12 of her points including eight in the first quarter, where she drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to help spark the Lady Hub offense. LaSalle-Peru managed just one made field goal in the second quarter, where Darby’s success on the low post and Henkel’s mid-range game enabled Rochelle to grow their lead into double digits. The Lady Hubs commanded a 29-11 lead over LaSalle-Peru at half.

The Cavaliers adjusted in the second half, switching to a full-court press that allowed them to score layups off Rochelle turnovers. The Cavaliers also cranked up their ball pressure in the half-court setting, where LaSalle-Peru’s tough perimeter defense shut the Lady Hubs down from the 3-point line. While the Cavaliers fought back into the game, they were still unable to contain Henkel, who continued to hit close-range shots due to her ability to consistently run the floor.

“I was running the floor and putting pressure on them,” Henkel said. “When I see the ball, I chase it down and I give 100 percent effort. I always look for the open player and I try to see what the next move will be… I hope that we can win more conference games and I’m really proud of how we played at the Dixon tournament, so I hope we can keep winning games.”

Henkel converted six second-half field goals including three toward the end of the fourth quarter, where LaSalle-Peru came within four points before going cold from the floor over the last few minutes of the game. Junior Abby Metzger and senior Kara Martinez each finished with three points for the Lady Hubs, who will host a conference game against Kaneland on Saturday.