By Jon Theuer

staff writer

The Albert Lea girls’ basketball team’s late-season swoon continued Tuesday as Rochester Mayo downed the Tigers 65-51 at Albert Lea High School.

Alyssa Sager led Albert Lea (11-12, 9-8 Big Nine) with 18 points as the Tigers played without leading scorer Abbey Arends, who was sick. Sager was the only Albert Lea player in double figures.

The Spartans (13-11, 12-5 Big Nine) had four players in double figures with Ali Moat leading the team with 18 points. Rachel Doll scored 14, Lauren Ulsh 11 and Sarah Bohlen 10 for Mayo.

Doll scored all 10 points on a 10-3 Spartans run in the second half to pull away from the Tigers. The run gave Mayo a 56-45 lead with 4:19 left to play.

The Tigers trailed 28-24 at halftime, while the Spartans outscored Albert Lea 37-27 over the final 18 minutes to pull away from the Tigers for good.

Albert Lea certainly missed Arends’ scoring ability Tuesday, but more importantly the Tigers missed her 6-foot frame to challenge the 6-foot Doll and 6-foot-1 Ulsh in the post.

Mayo’s height created mismatches down low that allowed the Spartans to score 19 points on second chance points and outrebound Albert Lea 46-41.

“They got a lot of second chance points where we just weren’t getting a body on them,” said Albert Lea head coach Sean Gilliam. “When they’re free to roam the lane, it’s pretty simple to get that down the baseline.”

With the size mismatches the Tigers were forced to foul and sent Mayo to the free throw line frequently.

The Spartans reached the free throw line 32 times during the game, which led to 22 points for Mayo.

“They were very good at the line,” Gillam said. “We’ve seen them before when we scouted them, they haven’t been that good, but they came to our house and hit them.”

Albert Lea finish the regular season Friday night as it travels to Austin.

Rochester Mayo 65, Albert Lea 51

Rochester Mayo 28 37 — 65

Albert Lea 24 27 — 51

Rochester Mayo scoring: Ali Moat 18, Rachel Doll 14, Lauren Ulsh 11, Sarah Bohlen 10, Anna Ryan 4, Anna Hirssig 3, Julie Miller 3, Brittany Sorgenfrie 2.

Albert Lea scoring: Alyssa Sager 18, Taylor Friehl 8, Morgan Stadheim 8, Sarah Wenum 4, Katie Lucas 3, Bryn Woodside 2, Mikaela Pierson 2, Ashley Tewes 2, Skyler Anderson 2, Lana Howe 2.