BETHEL — Cierra Wiggins turned a steal into an easy layup, and gracefully laid in a floater from the baseline quickly after. Washington and North Pitt had been battling evenly throughout the first half, and although the Lady Panthers had kept a few steps ahead, Wiggins’ buckets pulled the Lady Pack within five, 26-21, late in the second quarter.

The hosting Lady Panthers got a pair of last-minute baskets from Nyjanique Langley and Ashanti Hines to take a 30-21 lead into halftime. They didn’t take their foot off the pedal coming out of the intermission as they went on to win, 53-37.

North Pitt scored the first eight points of the third quarter while keeping Washington off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes.

“I think the toll of missing people like Nazayah (Parker), we weren’t adjusted. Nazayah, she’s going to score 10 straight points in a game,” Lady Pack coach Ralph Biggs said. “We’ve just got to find our rhythm and find what we do well as a team. We’ve got to adjust a little bit, and I think it’s a little hard for us right now. I’ve got to find something that’ll work for the girls.”

The Lady Pack struggled to find that pace until the last five minutes of the game. It was too little too late, though, as North Pitt opened the fourth on another 8-0 surge to take a 46-24.

Two Daria Jones free throws with 5:35 left gave Washington its first points of the fourth. Naiya Windley, with the help of the glass, added back-to-back buckets to help fuel an 8-0 Lady Pack run, but it only trimmed the deficit to 14 points.

“Daria is a big part of what we’re doing, but we’ve got to give her more help when we start off,” Biggs said. Jones, who faced tough matchups from North Pitt’s forwards, wasn’t too effective until the fourth quarter.

“Some of the girls have to pick up the slack. I’ve got to make better plays to get her and some of the other girls in situations to get going at the start of the game.”

Washington hosts North Johnston Friday for senior night. While the team has struggled mightily in 2-A Eastern Plains Conference play, the conference tournament — and likely playoffs — is still ahead.

“Mainly, for senior night, we’re going to work on sending our seniors out on a good note,” Biggs said. “It’ll be their last home game, so the girls will be hype during practice. We’ll want to get running and get some easy layups because that’ll be fun for the crowd.”