CONNELLSVILLE TWP. - Though Geibel Catholic outrebounded Mapletown and was on the favorable end of the turnover battle, coach Pat Klocek was concerned about one stat that wasn't going his way: Layups.

The Lady Gators (4-4, 6-11) struggled making layups in the first quarter of their 66-32 win over Section 3-A opponent Mapletown on Monday, Feb. 1, at Geibel Catholic.

"We were 2 for 13 early on and that has been a little bit of a problem for us all season," said Klocek. "Different points in the game we have done better than others, but we want to work on that."

Though layups early on were a concern for the Lady Gators, the red-hot shooting of junior guard Hannah Lazuka, who led all scorers with 29 points, made up for it.

It was the Lady Gators' third win in their last four games. They hosted West Greene Tuesday before visiting Carmichaels Thursday.

On the unfavorable side of the 43-20 turnover difference, the Lady Maples (1-7, 2-16) still hung close to the Lady Gators in the first quarter as they trailed 16-11.

However, Mapletown coach Autumn Willis said that with only six players, endurance and foul issues took their toll.

"We had Samantha Howell picking up four fouls in the first half and you can't have that with just six players," said Willis. "I think we played well in the first half, but just ran out of energy."

Willis said she hopes injured sophomore guard Sarah Taylor would return for Thursday's game against Monessen when the Lady Maples attempted to snap a five game losing streak.

"We are hoping to get her back," said Willis. "Right now, we need everyone back and ready to go to try to win out and see where that leaves us."

The Lady Maples rallied to cut the Gators' lead to 8-4 with leading scorer Kayla Stevulak scoring a basket at the 3:18 mark of the first quarter.

Following a Mapletown timeout at the 1:12 mark of the first quarter, Stevulak further lowered the deficit to 12-9 with teammate Wendy Dickerson cutting the lead to 12-11 with 42 seconds remaining.

Rebecca Sandor scored four points prior to the end of the quarter, however, and the Lady Gators were ahead 16-11 to start the second. Recording only four points in the first quarter, Lazuka posted 11 straight points in the second to give the Lady Gators a 29-18 lead with 36 seconds remaining in the first half.

Senior guard Breanne Dowden scored eight points for the Lady Gators in the third quarter, while Lazuka added five more to give the Lady Gators a 47-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Maples were outscored 19-3 in the fourth quarter, with Dowden scoring 16 points and Rebecca Sandor adding 10 for the Lady Gators. Stevulak finished with 10 for the Lady Maples.