Little went right for the Albert Lea girls’ basketball team Tuesday against Mayo in a 61-55 loss in Albert Lea.

The Tigers (6-12, 3-8) struggled to find any offensive rhythm and the defense was sub-par on the other end as they fell to a team they had beaten 65-51 in the fourth game of the season.

“It was one of those nights where all the things we worked on and how hard we worked at West and how much better we looked, all fell apart,” said Albert Lea head coach Sean Gillam.

The Tigers offense was out of sync much of the night and was unable to convert shots near the basket. Albert Lea finished the game shooting 26 percent from the field.

“We’re taking bad shots. We’re not taking good shots,” Gillam said. “We’re doing a lot of things that we shouldn’t offensively.”

The Tigers stayed close throughout the game and trailed by four with 20.2 left in the game after Morgan Stadheim scored inside, but Mayo converted a pair of free throws to hold Albert Lea off.

Alyssa Sager led the Tigers with 18 points and Stadheim recored a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Spartans (3-11, 3-9) picked up their second consecutive win and first against a Big Nine team other than Faribault. Mayo took advantage of second chances with 14 offensive rebounds and converted free throws at 67 percent on the night.

In the first half the Spartans hit 15 of 16 free throws, which accounted for more than half their points in a foul-filled game.

Liz Mellon led Mayo with 23 points. She shot 5-for-10 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and hit 8 of her 12 free throw attempts.

The Spartans controlled the glass, racking up 58 rebounds for the game, while Albert Lea had 44.

“Defensively there were times where we played really hard, though there were times where we played not so hard,” Gillam said.

The Tigers were forced to foul much of the game when they found themselves out of position on the defensive end.

“Give Mayo credit, they definitely came in and played a great game,” Gillam said.

For Gillam there remains work to be done on the offensive end for the Tigers.

“Offensively it looked terrible,” he said. “Nobody can tell me it didn’t look terrible.”

Mayo 61, Albert Lea 55

Mayo 29 32 — 61

Albert Lea 24 31 — 55

Mayo scoring: Liz Mellon 23, Lauren Ulsh 9, Danielle Sommerfeldt 9, Ameila Jajowka 7, Anna Hirssig 5, Alexa Shirek 4, Sarah Bohlen 4.

Albert Lea scoring: Alyssa Sager 18, Morgan Stadheim 15, Katie Schou 11, Abbey Arends 6, Lana Howe 3, Mikaela Pierson 2.