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(Observer photos by Mike Nicley)

      Junior guard Lindsey Hernden finished with a team-high 15 points and senior center Lauren Bright added 12, but it was the Dakota Cougars, ranked No. 7 in Class A, who walked away with a 50-41 victory Friday night at Dakota.
       The Cougars' center, Kylie Churches, scored just three points but had 17 rebounds and it was her strong presence in the paint that made the difference.
       "I thought we played a really good game from start to finish and the girls played with a lot of effort and heart,'' said Romeo Coach Connie Hernden. "Give credit to Dakota, their man-to-man pressure made it hard for us all night to get good looks at the basket. They were able to take our post and penetration game away and every time we thought we had a good look at the basket, they would throw a hand in our face."
       Romeo started strong in the first quarter thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Hernden to lead 14-9 but it didn't last long when Dakota opened the second quarter with 9-0 run to grab an 18-11 lead.
       The Lady Bulldogs (6-3, 0-2) still led at the half 22-21 thanks to Rachael Boeve's two-point basket as the horn sounded, unfortunately it was downhill from there for Romeo which was outscored 29-19 in the second half.
       "I thought we played a complete game on the defensive end, but offensively we had some difficulty getting into a consistent rhythm,'' added Hernden. "We have to get better at execution in the fourth quarter. We were out-rebounded 11 to 3 in that quarter and it hurt us especially on the defensive end where they got two, sometimes three, looks in one possession. Dakota is a great team with a lot of weapons and I thought we gave them everything they could handle. (We) just need to take care of things a little better in the last quarter."
       Chelsea Malburg and Briana Becker each had four points for Romeo; Andrea Madden was next with three and Jodie Bosheers had one.