HOLLAND —  The middle quarters were the difference as the Finlandia University women’s basketball team (0-3) lost 80-54 to Heidelberg (1-1), Saturday afternoon at DeVos Fieldhouse. This was consolation game of the Hope College Tip-Off Tournament.

“Our kids never stopped fighting,” said head coach John Motherwell. “This is our third game in four days. All on the road, and we are short a couple kids. We were exhausted by the middle of the second quarter. I can’t blame our kids for that; they are tough and were all trying to fight through it. They subbed liberally, four or five at a time, and we aren’t in position to do that.”

Finlandia set the pace right from the beginning of the game. The Lions came out charging scoring the first eight points of the game. Senior Julia Daavettila rattled in a jumper to make it 8-0 with 3:57 left in the first.

Heidelberg slowly crept into the game. At the 6:57 mark of the second period, the Student Princes finally took their first lead, 15-14.  

Daavettila banked in a shot to put FinnU up 18-17 with 6:18 to go. Over the next 16 minutes, Heidelberg went on a 38-16 run to finally wear Finlandia down.

For Finlandia, Daavettila had 21 points and two steals and junior Lela Horne had 11 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Senior Kelsie Richards had 10 rebounds (all defensive), two steals and blocked three shots, while sophomore Molly Berg had six assists, two steals and blocked two shots.

Finlandia remains on the road, taking on Concordia-Moorhead, Wednesday in Moorhead, Minn. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST.