The Eunice High Lady Bobcats found out Tuesday night that a terrible first quarter is hard to overcome in a 38-23 District 4-3A loss to the Northwest High Lady Raiders at the EHS gym.

The Lady Cats fell behind 7-0 in the opening quarter, struggling with turnovers and missed offensive opportunities against a full-court press by the Lady Raiders.

But a put-back basket by Adrianna Guillory with 1:48 left in the quarter cut the lead to 7-2. But that final 1:48 proved decisive for Northwest as they scored eight unanswered points to go up 15-2, with Ashley Leday leading the way with eight points.

After trailing 24-7 at the half, the Lady Bobcats made a run in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 26-13 with 2:27 left in the quarter. But Northwest again pulled away by scoring the final seven points of the quarter.

Eunice (6-15, 1-7) got its game going in the final quarter, holding a 10-5 edge. But the Lady Raiders made their big lead stand up for the victory.

Northwest (18-7, 7-1) remained in contention for the district title.

Crystal Leday led the Lady Raiders with 14 points, with nine coming off goals from three-point range. Ashley Leday finished with 13 points.

Guillory led the Lady Bobcats with eight points. Ona’Tia Winbush and Abbey Hillman added six apiece for Eunice.

The Lady Cats will travel to face Crowley on Friday before closing out the season Tuesday at home against Church Point.

Northwest will visit Iowa Friday before finishing the regular season at home against Crowley next Tuesday.