The Albert Lea girls’ basketball team hosted Stewartville on Saturday in hopes of finding its first win of the season.

Despite some stellar play by a couple of sophomores, Albert Lea lost, 71-31.

Stewartville started out on fire from behind the three-point line. Nine of their first 11 points came from beyond the arc.

The Albert Lea offense struggled to respond after Stewartville started keying on senior Rachel Rehnelt, who became the eighth Tiger in school history to tally her 1,000th point last Tuesday.

Stepping up to fill the role was sophomore Samantha Skarstad, scoring the first five points for Albert Lea.

Skarstad — along with two other sophomores, Turena Schultz and Ashley Butt — have been a bright spot on the team since the start of the season.

“Everybody knows Rachel (Rehnelt) and everyone knows she can score,” said head coach Karol Hansen. “They tend to really key on her, so it’s nice when other players realize when they can get the chance. Sam (Skarstad) and Ashley (Butt) really took advantage of that tonight.”

Skarstad would score 11 points in the first half and Butt would have five, along with a number of key rebounds. However, Albert Lea would go to the halftime break trailing 42-23.

Although Albert Lea would allow 13 less points in the second half, the offense continued to struggle, scoring eight second-half points.

Stewartville keying defensively on Rehnelt played a major part in the outcome of the game. Although she led the team in assists with five, Rehnelt was only able to notch six points on five shot attempts.

“I know that there’s something there, but we just haven’t reached it yet,” Hansen said. “Our confidence is getting a little shaky, but I think they all know that any one of them can have a good night at any time. I think that is working to our advantage and when our shots start falling, that will be there for them.”

Albert Lea was led in scoring by Skarstad with 13 points; Butt had 7. Skarstad also led the way in rebounding with six, while Butt and Rehnelt had four each.

The Tigers drop to 0-6 on the season and will play again Thursday when they host Northfield.