Franklin head coach Denikwa James made one thing abundantly clear after her squad’s 51-29 loss to Milford Mill Friday night.

If her players don’t shake off the negative aura and show more heart then they won’t get to where they need to be as a team.

The Indians (11-9), looking to erase a nine point deficit coming out after halftime, completely collapsed in the final 16 minutes, were outscored 24-11 by the visiting Millers (6-10) and converted only three field goals in the second half.

Sophomores Mi Quera Lewis and Ariana Foote led Franklin with 11 and nine points, respectively. However, the rest of the squad combined for just ten points on the night.

“Right now we have a lot of attitudes on the team and we are not going to progress any further if we don’t get ourselves together,” James said after the game. “They get down on themselves so quickly. If they miss a shot or turn the ball over they get down on themselves.”

Turning the ball over played a huge role as the Indians didn’t take care of the ball in the first quarter, allowing Milford Mill—which led for the entire game—to jump out to an early 16-4 lead just six minutes into the first quarter.  

The Millers were led by senior forward Desiree’ Carr who owned the inside all evening, netting 18 points (all in the paint) to go along with 14 boards.

Defensively, Carr, along with fellow senior Jerica Blanding, never allowed Franklin’s frontcourt to establish themselves down low.

“We respect their inside game a lot so we prepared for it a lot,” Milford Mill coach DeToiya McAliley said.

As a whole, McAliley was very pleased with her squad’s performance throughout.

“This is the best effort all season,” McAliley said. “If they play like this every night then I’ve got nothing to say—I can’t complain. This was a good game. Everyone did their thing.”

After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, a Foote lay-in off a Hannah Corton inbounds pass cut the deficit to nine midway through the third quarter. However, Milford Mill responded with an 8-1 run to finish out the third quarter to go back ahead by 14.

Franklin’s Lewis opened the fourth quarter with a bucket to pull back within 12, but any chance of an Indians’ comeback was short lived.

After Lewis’ basket, Franklin hit a seven minute dry spell without a point, while the Millers went on an 11-0 run, ballooning the advantage to 23 before a pair of Lewis free throws ended the drought with less than a minute to play. By then, the lead had swelled to 49-28.

The Indians will look to regroup when they travel to take on a tough Catonsville squad, Wednesday night at 6:30.