Austin's Nina Carney tries to win the battle for the ball amongst the Stewartville defense during first half action Friday night in Ove Berven Gym. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Austin girls basketball team is still looking for its first win of the year, but it made a big step towards becoming a better team in the second half of a 56-52 loss to Stewartville (1-0 overall) in Ove Berven Gym Friday night.

The Packers trailed by as many as 20 in the first half and they closed to within 52-47 with 2:19 left in the game after a 7-1 run that was capped by a Babaye Oja put-back.

“This gives us great confidence,” said Oja, who finished 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while getting nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. “The difference (in the second half) was we stopped complaining and we started playing as a team.”

Austin's Stephanie Justice guards against Stewartville's Shawnna Sperber during the first half Friday night in Ove Berven Gym. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Stewartville’s Lisa Flynn hit a free throw to make it 53-47 with 2:03 left and Austin’s Taylor Lady was called for traveling on the Packers’ next possession.

Stewartville center Shannon Curtis hit a short jumper to make it 55-47 with 1:33 left.

Despite coming up short, Austin head coach Gary Peterson was glad with how his team responded to a 35-19 halftime deficit.

“I was proud of them, because they could’ve given up,” he said. “I knew we had a chance at seven minutes when we cut it to ten. A lot of people at halftime were probably thinking we were going to get blown out.”

Stewartville took over early in the first half when they used a 19-5 run to go up 32-12 with 2:53 left in the game.

Peterson said his squad was a little confused by Stewartville’s defenses early on as they rotated between a man-to-man and a matchup zone.

“I told the kids we had to read their defense and if we ran the proper offense we could do things. We did a lot better job in the second half,” he said.

Shawna Sperber led the Tigers with 14 points, but Oja’s defense helped hold her to 4-for-12 shooting.

“I was kind of terrified of (Sperber),” Oja said. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to move my feet with her, and I tried to keep my hands off her but I couldn’t (do it every time).”

Austin (0-2 overall) played the game without two of its rotation players while starting center Jenna Svoboda, who had eight points and six rebounds, was limited to 16 minutes as she fouled out.

Stewartville 35 21 — 56

Austin           19 33 — 52

Austin scoring: Babaye Oja, 25; Jenna Svoboda, 8; Taylor Lady, 7; Merdedith Molhusen, 5; Stephanie Justice, 3; Sophia Hebrink, 3; Nina Carney, 1; field goals: 23.7 percent (14-for-59); three-pointers: 55.6 percent (5-for-9); free throws: 65.5 percent (19-for-29); rebounds: 36 (Oja, 9); turnovers: 20

Stewartville scoring: Shawna Sperber, 14; Liz Waugh, 9; Shannon Curtis, 9; Paige Tapp, 6; Steph Jorde, 4; Sarah Schrandt, 4; Lindsay Blahnik, 3; Katelyn Hanf, 3; Lisa Flynn, 2; Hannah Tapp, 2; field goals: 22.1 percent (15-for-68); three-pointers: 33.3 percent (2-for-6); free throws: 61.5 percent (24-for-39); rebounds: 45 (Blahnik, 9); turnovers: 20