CALIFORNIA - The No. 7 seed Lady Hornets were unable to finish off their rally in a first-round loss to the No. 2 Lady Owls at the 26th-annual California Tournament late Monday night.
Fulton (2-9) got down quickly, falling behind 15-3 after one quarter. The Lady Hornets edged Marshall 15-14 in the second quarter to make it 29-18 at halftime, but trailed 38-25 to open the fourth quarter.
Fulton closed within six points over the final 8 minutes, but its comeback fell short.
Junior guard Kayanna Gaines paced the Lady Hornets with a game-high 19 points and fellow junior guard Carly Fisher scored seven.
"In the first quarter, we kept settling for bad shots," Fulton head coach Dillan Brunk said. "We made adjustments in the second quarter and at halftime, and that made a difference.
"In the second half, we got the shots we wanted."
Hannah Pomeranke sparked the Lady Owls with 18 points and Leah Weaver tallied 12.
The Lady Hornets square off against No. 6 seed Battle in the consolation semifinals at 9 tonight. Battle was pounded by No. 3 seed California in a 68-32 first-round blitz Monday night.