The Lady Lancers struggled on the glass in dropping a Section 2-AA home matchup to Riverside. It was the first win for the Lady Panthers in the last five meetings on the Lady Lancers’ home floor.

Riverside outrebounded Neshannock, 50-24. The Lady Lancers had just four offensive boards, compared to 23 for the Lady Panthers. Neshannock turned the ball over 19 times as well.

“In games we’ve lost, we’ve been beat on the boards,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “It’s a little bit of everything.

“Sometimes we aren’t boxing out. Sometimes we’re boxing out and we’re not jumping. Sometimes we’re not releasing to get the ball. It was a little bit of everything (against Riverside).”

The game was tied at 14 at the break and the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Lancers 16-5 in the third quarter to take control.

“We played a really good first half,” Grybowski said. “Going in, we want to hold a team under 40 points.

“(Alexis) Deep had a good second half. We had some turnovers in the second half. We turned the ball over seven times in the third quarter and they turned that into 10 points; they were backbreakers. That quarter killed us.”

Deep, who is averaging nearly 20 points a game, notched a game-high 21 points for Riverside. She posted 16 of her markers in the second half.

“That’s a veteran team and Deep really put them on her shoulders in the second half,” Grybowski said.

Madison McHale led Neshannock with 15 points, eight coming in the fourth quarter. Tayler Grybowski followed with eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Alexandra Fischer snared a team-high nine rebounds.

The Lady Lancers continue to hold the fourth and final playoff spot out of the section. Laurel, which sits in fifth place, is challenging Neshannock for that berth, along with New Brighton (2-7, 4-11). The Lady Lancers have three section games left and Laurel has four.