MANSFIELD — Conference championships aren’t won in December, but they can be lost before the calendar flips and Mansfield Senior has played itself into trouble.

The Tygers allowed a 14-point halftime lead to slip away in a 66-60 loss to visiting Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Monday night at Pete Henry Gym.

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It was the second straight OCC game in which Senior High (1-3, 0-2) allowed a double-digit lead to evaporate after last week’s loss to Mount Vernon in the conference opener.

“We go ice cold and it gets to us mentally,” Senior High coach JeVar Hudgens said. “We start wearing it on us and then we don’t play defense like we’re supposed to.

“We get into our emotions and we don’t execute defensively.”

The Tygers (1-3, 0-2) could do little wrong during the first half. Senior High stormed to a 35-21 halftime lead and led 38-24 after Kiersten Bradley’s conventional three-point play with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter.

That’s when Wooster (2-2, 1-1) came to life. The Generals outscored the Tygers 15-7 the rest of the quarter and trailed 45-39 going to the fourth.

Wooster took a 52-51 lead on a pair of Nora Levy free throws with 4:32 remaining. It was the Generals second lead of the evening and first since early in the first quarter.

“We just wanted to give more effort,” said Levy, who scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half. “The score shows how hard we worked in the second half.”

Senior High pulled even at 54-54 when Juleah Windham split a pair of free throws with 3:02 remaining, but the Generals outscored the Tygers 12-6 the rest of the way.

“At halftime we said, ‘It’s because our effort isn’t there. If you give effort, you’re going to win the game,’ ” Wooster coach Alex Kacere said. “I trust my shooters. Tori (Pettorini) started shooting and Nora started shooting.”

Pettorini scored 19 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. She and Levy combined for 22 of Wooster’s 27 fourth-quarter points.

“It’s the fourth-quarter letdown,” Hudgens said. “We’ve got to get eight minutes stronger.”

Senior High hosts small-school heavyweight Loudonville on Wednesday before welcoming OCC juggernaut West Holmes to Pete Henry Gym on Thursday.

“We could absolutely be 1-5 with the two teams we’ve got coming in,” Hudgens said. “We’re going to keep working.

“We’ve got to get in shape and work on our mental toughness.”

Bradley led the Tygers with 21 points. Kiyah Wentz added 15.