LEXINGTON — The progress Lexington coach Michael Kathrein has seen this season hasn’t yet translated to a victory, but Lady Lex is getting closer.
Lexington gave Ashland all it wanted for a half Thursday before falling 46-32 in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game.
Lady Lex dipped to 0-12 overall and 0-6 in the conference. Ashland improved to 7-6, 2-4.
“There was one time when I had three freshmen and two sophomores on the floor together,” Kathrein said. “When you look at how young we are, I think we have progressed much more rapidly than I would have expected.
“We haven’t played consistently for four quarters yet. We’re still waiting to put four quarters together.”
Lady Lex played two solid quarters Thursday. Lexington led much of the first quarter before falling behind 13-7 after the opening eight minutes. Lady Lex outscored Ashland 9-7 in the second and trailed 20-16 at the half.
“We weren’t playing hard enough. They were playing harder than we were,” Ashland coach Jason Snow said. “We’re not playing real well right now. We needed a win because we were 1-5 in our last six.”
The Arrows, who boast a starting lineup that features four seniors and a junior, parlayed a 14-7 run into a 34-23 lead after three quarters. Kylie Chandler hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third.
“For the whole game, we had four bad defensive possessions,” Kathrein said. “We gave up two back cuts and we lost site of Chandler on two possessions in the second half.
“Other than that we played well defensively.”
Lexington cut Ashland’s lead to 36-26 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by sophomore Charlotte Kuhn, but couldn’t get any closer. Ashland maintained a double-figure lead the rest of the way.
Senior forward Shelby White paced the Arrows with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Chandler added 10 points, while senior center Jennifer Townsend grabbed 13 boards and matched White with three blocked shots.
Michaela Biddle led Lexington with nine points. Abigail Adams had six points while Charlotte Kuhn and Whitney Wendling had five points apiece.
Inside Advantage: With the 6-foot White and 5-foot-11 Townsend, Ashland had a clear advantage in the paint. Ashland out-rebounded Lexington 51-43 and scored 14 points in the paint compared to Lexington’s four.
“That is one of our strengths. We can score inside,” Snow said. “We’ve got to go in their early and establish that.”
Offensive Woes: Lexington shot just 18 percent from the field and 31 percent from the free throw line. Lady Lex was 4 for 24 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We battled hard at one end and just got too frantic at the offensive end,” Kathrein said. “We got a little panicky and took some bad shots.
“The last few games, we had made great progress but tonight we took a step backwards.”
