ROCHESTER &045; It was just the fifth loss of the season for the Albert Lea girls’ basketball team but this one stung the most.

The Tigers could not overcome some sloppy play in the second half against Rochester Mayo falling 56-45 as the Spartans took sole possession of first place in the Big Nine Conference.

&8220;When we lost to Waseca they beat us and when Fairmont took a game they beat us, but tonight we felt like we did it to ourselves,&8221; said Albert Lea head coach Karol Hansen.

&8220;We beat ourselves instead of making the other team earn it.

I know the girls are disappointed.&8221;

The game started out well for the Tigers as they took a six point lead into the locker room.

Albert Lea controlled the tempo and was able to limit Mayo’s potent inside game with strong defensive play.

&8220;We took them out of their set offense, handled their big post players and we took high percentage shots ourselves,&8221; said Hansen.

Attack was the name of the game for Albert Lea in the first half as it got to the free throw line 16 times converting on 14 of those attempts.

Niki Hendrickson led the way with 12 points, Hali Hendrickson added eight and Ali Demmer had seven points.

However, the second half brought with it problems the Tigers were unable to solve.

Indecision with the basketball led to 14 second half turnovers which allowed Mayo to run out on offense and set up their attack.

The physical game wore on the Tigers and shots stopped falling.

The Tigers were also outrebounded in the game 32 to 27.