After a strong 2-0 start to the 2010-11 season, the Escambia County Lady Blue Devils suffered their first loss 47-34 at the hands of the Baldwin County Lady Tigers on Saturday in Atmore.

The Lady Blue Devils (2-1, 0-0) held tight with the Lady Tigers, but a rough night at the free throw line proved to be the difference.

Out of 20 attempts at the charity stripe, ECHS only hit seven of their shots.

Lady Blue Devils head coach Lorenzo Jones said the score was closer than it indicates.

“In a game that was closer than the final indicates, it came down to who could convert layups and free throws,” Jones said. “They hit theirs and we didn’t.

In the first quarter, the Lady Blue Devils and Lady Tigers battled on both ends of the floor with the teams deadlocked at 10 at the buzzer.

Baldwin County took control in the second quarter and never let go of their lead as they outscored the Lady Blue Devils 9-8 to take a 19-18 lead into halftime.

Following halftime, the Lady Tigers began pulling away from the Lady Blue Devils scoring 15 points in the third quarter to nine for ECHS.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers put the nail in the coffin and scored 13 more points, while the Lady Blue Devils could only muster seven to fall 47-34.

Jones said his team could never get any momentum rolling in the third or fourth quarters.

“We never got anything going in the second half,” he said. “We got away from what we did in the first two quarters. We will make some adjustments this week in practice and see if we can put it into play in our next game.”

Lady Blue Devils guard Diamond Williams led ECHS with 14 points, four steals and three rebounds in the loss.

Supporting Williams were Jasmine Ireland and Cha’Nae Lyles. Ireland scored six points to go along with two assists, one steal and one rebound, while Lyles had five points, two steals, one rebound and one assist.

Brianna Martin scored four points and pulled down three rebounds with one steal and Takia Johnson scored three points with two rebounds.

The Lady Blue Devils next home game is scheduled for Nov. 30 against T.R. Miller.

Games tipoff at 4:30 p.m.