The girls’ basketball team (13–6) fell to the BCC Barons (18–1) 56–45 in the Battle of Bethesda. The Vikings moved to 0–2 against the Barons on the season and now have a challenging path ahead to go far in the playoffs. 

The game was tight throughout the matchup, with several lead changes in each half. It wasn’t until two minutes left in the fourth quarter that the Barons started to put the game out of reach for the Vikes. 

BCC jumped out of the gate with an early lead in the first quarter. The Barons started the game playing aggressive defense, which caused trouble for the Vikings. As a result, the Vikes were making uncharismatic turnovers, and BCC took advantage. In addition, the Vikes were fouling more than the Barons, so BCC had several more free-throw attempts in the first half. On the offensive side of the ball, Whitman didn’t have much success in the first quarter, only scoring eight points, four of which came from sophomore Kaylah Tchoufa. However, the offense turned it around in the second quarter, recording 22 points — their highest-scoring quarter of the night. Sophomore Kathryn Marquardt led the successful turnaround by hitting back-to-back three-pointers, giving Whitman the lead. The Vikes ended the half with a six-point lead over BCC. 

When Whitman returned from halftime, their offensive momentum seemingly stopped. Whitman could only compile an eight-point quarter. The Vikes’ defense picked up the slack, which allowed them to stay in the game. Both teams were tied going into the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, the tie game didn’t last long as BCC went back to playing aggressive defense, forcing costly turnovers for Whitman. Tchoufa led the Vikings with 14 points.

The Vikes will play their final regular season game against the Damascus Swarmin’ Hornets (18-1) on Tuesday night at 6:00.